The Italian government has drafted a controversial code of conduct for charity boats carrying out migrant rescue missions, limiting their operations. NGOs have warned that the code could put thousands of lives at risk.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Malavolta
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In an attempt to stem rising migrant flows, the Italian government completed a draft code of conduct for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that carry out search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea, an official said on Wednesday.
Italy's 11-point plan reportedly includes new rules that would ban charity boats from making phone calls or firing flares that could signal to human traffickers that it was a good time to launch their migrant boats. The groups would also no longer be allowed to enter Libyan territorial waters.
EU powers to focus on fighting migration causes
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Additionally, should any group refuse to accept the terms, they could be barred access to Italian ports, meaning the charity ships would have to divert to other countries to disembark refugees.
Code puts 'more at risk of drowning'
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) heavily criticized Italy's plan on Wednesday after receiving a leaked draft of the code.
"Any code of conduct, if necessary, should have the goal of making rescue operations at sea more effective at saving lives," said Amnesty and HRW in a joint statement.
The code of conduct is expected to be presented in the next few days to nine NGOs that regularly deploy rescue boats just off the Libyan coast.
Under the code, NGO ships will no longer be allowed to transfer refugees to other ships. Instead, they will have to bring rescued migrants into port themselves, thereby limiting their operations.
"This would force NGOs search-and-rescue teams to move away for long periods from the area where they are needed, leaving more people at risk of drowning in the Central Mediterranean," the groups said.
Italy has been looking to improve cooperation with other European Union nations to help with the rising number of new arrivals. More than 85,200 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, according to the latest data released by the Italian interior ministry, up by 8.9 percent over the same period in 2016.
"Italy has done and will continue to do its part in rescuing and welcoming (asylum seekers). But it is fighting at the same time for a migration policy that does not rest on only a few countries, and that is shared by the entire European Union," said Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Wednesday.
Gentiloni's comments came as he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in Trieste - but there was no sign of a deal to relieve pressure on Italy.
Charity boats operated by NGOs have played an increasingly important role in rescue operations, picking up over a third of all migrants brought ashore this year, according to the Italian coast guard.
But NGO rescue operations have come under fire recently, with the Italian government suspected that their presence on the border of Libyan territorial waters encourages migrants and smugglers to risk lives and launch more boats.
NGOs deny these claims, saying that thousands more would die if their boats were not operating in the Mediterranean Sea.
World Refugee Day: Iconic images of the refugee crisis
Photographs of the massive migrant influx to Europe in 2015 and 2016 circulated around the world and influenced public opinion. Migration and its related suffering have never been as comprehensively documented as today.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Messinis
The goal: Survival
A journey combined with misery as well as dangers for the body and the soul: In their escape from war and suffering, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly from Syria, traveled to Greece from Turkey in 2015 and 2016. There are still around 10,000 people stranded on the islands of Lesbos, Chios and Samos. More than 6,000 new arrivals were recorded this year from January to May.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Messinis
On foot to Europe
In 2015 and 2016, more than a million people tried to reach Western Europe from Greece or Turkey over the Balkan route - through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary. The stream of refugees stopped only when the route was officially closed and many countries sealed their borders. Today, most refugees opt for the dangerous Mediterranean route from Libya to Europe.
Image: Getty Images/J. Mitchell
Global dismay
This picture shook the world. The body of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi from Syria washed up on a beach in Turkey in September 2015. The photograph was widely circulated in social networks and became a symbol of the refugee crisis. Europe could not look away anymore.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/DHA
Chaos and despair
Last-minute rush: Thousands of refugees tried to get into overcrowded buses and trains in Croatia after it became known that the route through Europe would not remain open for long. In October 2015, Hungary closed its borders and installed container camps, where refugees would be kept for the duration of their asylum process.
Image: Getty Images/J. J. Mitchell
Unscrupulous reporting
A Hungarian journalist caused uproar in September 2015 after she tripped a Syrian man who was trying to run from the police at Roszke, near the Hungarian border with Serbia. At the peak of the crisis, the tone against refugees became coarser. In Germany, attacks on refugee homes increased.
Image: Reuters/M. Djurica
No open borders
The official closure of the Balkan route in March 2016 led to tumultuous scenes at border crossings. Thousands of refugees were stranded and there were reports of brutal violence. Many tried to circumvent border crossings, like these refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border shortly after borders were closed.
A child covered in blood and dust: the photograph of five-year-old Omran shocked the public when it was released in 2016. It became an allegory of the horror of the Syrian civil war and the suffering of the Syrian people. One year later, new pictures of the boy circulated on the internet, showing him much happier. Assad supporters say the picture last year was planted for propaganda purposes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Aleppo Media Center
The unknown new home
A Syrian man carries his daughter in the rain at the Greek-Macedonian border in Idomeni. He hopes for security for his family in Europe. According to the Dublin regulation, asylum can be applied only in the country where the refugee first entered Europe. Many who travel further on are sent back. Above all, Greece and Italy carry the largest burden.
Image: Reuters/Y. Behrakis
Hope for support
Germany remains the top destination, although the refugee and asylum policy in Germany has become more restrictive following the massive influx. No country in Europe has taken in as many refugees as Germany, which took in 1.2 million since the influx began in 2015. Chancellor Angela Merkel was an icon for many of the newcomers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
Emergency situation in the camps
In France's north, authorities clean up the infamous "jungle" in Calais. The camp caught fire during the evacuation in October 2016. Around 6,500 residents were distributed among other shelters in France. Half a year later, aid organizations reported many minor refugees living as homeless people around Calais.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/E. Laurent
Drowning in the Mediterranean
NGO and government rescue ships are constantly on the lookout for migrant boats in distress. Despite extreme danger during their voyage, many refugees, fleeing poverty or conflict in the home countries, expect to find a better future in Europe. The overcrowded boats and rubber dinghies often capsize. In 2017 alone, 1,800 people died in the crossing. In 2016, 5,000 people lost their lives.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/E. Morenatti
No justice in Libya
Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Sub Saharan Africa and the Middle East wait in Libyan detention camps to cross the Mediterranean. Human smugglers and traffickers control the business. The conditions in the camps are reportedly catastrophic, human rights organizations say. Eyewitnesses report of slavery and forced prostitution. Still, the inmates never give up the dream of coming to Europe.
Image: Narciso Contreras, courtesy by Fondation Carmignac
