Leading European Union interior ministers have reached a deal on redistributing migrants rescued in the Mediterranean. It's a small sign of progress for a deadlocked EU, says Bernd Riegert.
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Image: picture-alliance/AP/R. Brito
At last, a small step has been made in the right direction in Malta.
But not everyone is in agreement — at least not yet. Only the core states of France, Germany and Italy, along with Malta, were involved in drafting the distribution plan for migrants and asylum-seekers on Monday. For the plan to work in the long term, obstinate, anti-migrant EU members will have to toe the line as well.
In early October, the proposed plan will be formally discussed at a full meeting of the EU's 28 interior ministers. But even optimists aren't expecting more than half of the member states to sign a binding distribution mechanism. The rest will continue to hide behind Hungary and Poland, whose nationalistic governments continue to stubbornly — and illegally — refuse to accept migrants or refugees.
But now, with a moderate populist government at the helm in Italy, a change of course seems possible. As soon as a concrete distribution plan is in place, Italy's new independent interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese, has said she will reopen Italian ports to private rescue ships. Her radical right-wing predecessor, Matteo Salvini, saw himself as the country's savior for his hard-line, inhumane policies that impeded or prevented those stranded at sea from landing in Italy.
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who just a year ago was still open to negotiating with Salvini, realized that it couldn't go on like this, that his former Italian ally had drifted too far to the right.
The current EU approach — which seeks to scare away, outsource and deport — has reached its limits. Every weekend, leaders across Europe are tied up in conference calls, haggling over the fate of a fresh boatload of people. It's shameful, and undignified.
Bernd Riegert is DW's correspondent in Brussels
Seehofer has now seized the chance of a new government in Rome to extricate himself from the current impasse on migration policy. Even if he hasn't said so, his approach has changed drastically: All of a sudden, he is now prepared for Germany to accept a fixed quota of migrants arriving from African countries over the Mediterranean.
Of course, this quota will initially only apply to those saved in the Mediterranean by private rescue organizations, including three German ones. That is by far the smallest proportion of all migrants who come to Europe — in 2018, that was only 2,200 people. Today, most migrants avoid Italy and Malta, instead heading straight for Greece or Spain.
Proponents of Salvini's hard-line approach have argued that it had a strong deterrent effect, both on migrants and human smugglers. What will happen if quotas are put into place? Will it lead to an increase in people willing to risk the life-threatening sea crossing? Will more drown because not everyone can be saved? Will the EU be forced to organize another official sea rescue operation to save migrants from the smugglers' boats?
The interior ministers in Malta, who rightly want to move ahead with their plan, have still not answered these questions. But at some point, these issues must be addressed.
'Inhumane conditions' at Bosnian refugee camp in Vucjak
Within eyeshot of the Bosnian-Croatian border, thousands of refugees are camping in squalor on a former garbage site. Their supplies are scarce. Photographer Dirk Planert was among them.
Image: DW/D. Planert
Forced removals
It's estimated that 8,000 refugees live in Bihac. The camps are overcrowded and every day there is talk of burglaries. There was a stabbing in front of the kindergarten. Next to Camp Bira, there were about 500 people not registered with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In mid-June police picked them up and drove them to a site called Vucjak.
Image: DW/D. Planert
800 people living on garbage
Within a few days, police continued to bring more refugees to Vucjak — a site that was the city's garbage dump for decades. It was covered with soil and then flattened. Local residents say it is omitting methane gas. Apart from the putrid stench, there are only three tents and some drinking water tanks. No toilets, no showers, no electricity, no paramedics.
Image: DW/D. Planert
Red Cross hopes for relief workers
Local Red Cross workers from Bihac say that neither the government in Sarajevo nor the IOM are giving them any funds to look after the refugees or buy medical supplies. The IOM staff stopped by briefly but did nothing. They then made a plea to the people of Bihac to donate food.
Image: DW/D. Planert
Eating in filth
Those at the camp receive paltry soup and bread twice a day from the Red Cross.
There is no electricity, no toilets, no showers, and no way to wash clothing. Almost everyone has skin rashes, open or purulent wounds, and their legs and feet are bloodied. There are no doctors. Red Cross medics say they have inadequate supplies to provide relief.
Image: DW/D. Planert
Medical emergency
Abdul Rahim Bilal screamed in pain as he was unloaded from a police van. Shortly afterward he became unresponsive and lay in the dirt with his hands on his appendix. The bus drove off. After desperate calls for help, another policeman called an ambulance which took half an hour to arrive. According to the hospital, he was released three days later.
Image: DW/D. Planert
Stories of war
Most in the camp are young men from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Syria; some are also from India, Egypt and Gaza. The refugees in Vucjak have been making their way to Europe for at least 10 weeks, some even up to three years. They speak of the war in Syria, terrorist attacks and police violence in Pakistan and air raids in Gaza.
Image: DW/D. Planert
No strength left
Jouma Al Hamid was in an Assad prison in Syria. He comes from the Idlib area. He's been on the road for three years and spent one year in Camp Moria on Lesbos. "I can't take it anymore," says the 26-year-old. "I just want to live in a house, that's all. I'm frightened, by the police, by criminal gang lords here." People smugglers charge €3,000 ($3,400) but he does not have it.
Image: DW/D. Planert
Without rights
Hassan Ali was forcibly removed from Camp Bira to Vucjak by police despite being registered as a migrant at IOM and having a place in the camp. They gave him no explanation: "The police arrested me in town. When I showed my IOM card and said I was in Bira, they said if I say that again they will beat me. Then they brought me here. I don't know why."
Image: DW/D. Planert
Being a child at the garbage dump
The youngest refugee at former-garbage dump campsite is 12 years old. He actually should be at Camp Bira, or in one of the hotels where women and children are accommodated but the police picked him up and brought him to Vucjak. His only possessions are the clothes he is wearing.
Image: DW/D. Planert
'This is not camp'
The people here are crying out to be heard. With a paper and a marker, a woman from a French human rights organization helped them write a legible sign, in a desperate attempt to get help.
Image: DW/D. Planert
The EU knows everything
The European Union can't deny that they know what the situation is like here. Two EUFOR soldiers were in Vucjak and witnessed everything. They will have reported to their headquarters. This situation is strongly reminiscent of the war in Bosnia. Bihac was a "UN protection zone," but only on paper. UN observers were here and they didn't do anything. Just like EUFOR.
Image: DW/D. Planert
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Fundamental reforms needed
At the meeting in October, around 12 to 15 EU states will need to be convinced to participate in the proposed migrant redistribution mechanism. In order for the plan to succeed, it must be clear that those who refuse to accept any migrants will at least have to contribute funds, or show some other form of solidarity — but for the moment, that likely remains a long shot.
Currently, the plan is for Germany to take 25% of the migrants, France another 25% and Italy 10%. But who will take the remaining 40%? Does working this out really have to be so complicated? When it comes down to actual numbers, it only amounts to a few dozen people per year!
A long-term solution for the tens of thousands of migrants who reach Europe by land — or even a fundamental reform of the European asylum system — is still a long way off.
