European countries need to show concrete solidarity with migrants and refugees by operating joint search and rescues in the Mediterranean to stop deaths at sea, the Jesuit Refugee Service urged yesterday.
JRS Europe made the appeal before Pope Francis’s address to the European Parliament today.
“Border control should never be at the expense of human rights. To turn a blind eye to the people dying at our borders is to undermine everything the EU is supposed to stand for,” JRS Malta director Katrine Camilleri said in a statement.
Border control should never be at the expense of human rights
“Europe cannot claim to be an area of freedom, justice and security if the only rights we care about are our own.”
For Europe, said JRS, the need to secure borders seems to be more important than saving lives.
It called upon the EU to allocate resources for a European sea rescue service and to allow those fleeing human rights violations to be given safe and legal access to protection.
JRS also urged the EU to review the “Dublin system” and ensure that asylum seekers are no longer forced to apply for protection in countries with asylum systems that do not meet EU standards.
JRS Europe regional director Fr Jean-Marie Carrière, SJ, said it was a question of moral integrity.
“Pope Francis reminds us that helping migrants is a central part of the Christian tradition… our solidarity should extend beyond simply offering persecuted people a safe place to live.
“True hospitality goes further than tolerance and must always mean membership in a community.”
For one year, Italy took on the responsibility to patrol international waters in the Mediterranean and rescue migrant boats in distress in a naval operation called Mare Nostrum. More than 140,000 people were saved but this operation has now been halted.
At the moment, operation Triton, led by the EU border agency Frontex, operates only within 30 nautical miles off the Italian coast. It has a third of the budget of Mare Nostrum and considerably fewer resources.
Meanwhile, Maltese MEP Marlene Mizzi yesterday reacted to a message sent by two MPs to all other MEPs objecting to Pope Francis’s visit to the European Parliament today.
Ms Mizzi pointed out that Pope Francis is not only a religious leader but also a Head of State, and he should be received with that courtesy.