#dnaEdit: At Europe’s mercy

The sinking of a ship in which an estimated 900 migrants lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend was a ghastly tragedy. Timely intervention by powerful Western countries could indeed have spared the loss of so many lives. The incident has exposed the cold indifference of the 28 European Union countries to the migrants’ predicament. The EU countries were fully aware that thousands of migrants were choosing the risky, death-defying and uncertain option of fleeing their countries, even if by entrusting their lives to mercenary traffickers. Yet they did little to intervene. On October 31 last year, the Italian government wound up an exemplary year-long naval mission, “Mare Nostrum” that rescued nearly one lakh migrants in peril. The expenditure, internal political opposition, and the EU’s apathy had left the Italian government isolated. In the place of Mare Nostrum came its stripped-down version, Operation Triton, helmed by the EU’s border protection agency, Frontex, with just a third of the funding, six patrol ships, two airplanes and one helicopter. Funded by a handful of countries, Triton focussed on policing rather than meeting the humanitarian agency. Countries like Britain have argued that search-and-rescue operations encourage migrants to put their lives in peril by attempting the dangerous sea-crossing. This is a gratuitous claim. In fact, the surge of refugees has nothing to do with Europe’s policies but more to do with the dangerous domestic situation prevailing in Libya, Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria, Yemen and Sudan.

Proof that the replacement of the pro-active Mare Nostrum with the lackadaisical Triton was not a disincentive for migrants comes from some hard statistics. Just last week, nearly 10,000 migrants landed on the shores of Italy. The terrible tragedy on the Mediterranean seems to have finally “woken” EU’s top leadership from their slumber — or apathy — call it what you will. An extraordinary meeting — to evolve a joint response — is on the anvil. Joint action is the only way left for EU countries to overcome domestic opposition from a clutch of anti-immigration parties that have mushroomed across Europe. It has been argued that the 28 EU countries — by evolving equitable asylum processes and sharing the cost of search-and-rescue operations — can mitigate the burden now borne disproportionately by a few countries. Moreover, the influx into Europe is only a trickle in comparison to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon which have liberally allowed Syrian refugees by the thousands to enter. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has noted that asylum applicants had a 75 per cent chance of getting asylum in some countries against just 1 per cent in other countries, for the same set of conditions. However, evolving a consensus, cutting across EU, is difficult. Individual member countries have tightened their respective domestic immigration laws.

According to the European refugee agency, 2.19 lakh refugees had crossed the Mediterranean in 2014. For a continent that is home to 50 crore humans, and has politically organised itself on the principle of free movements of goods and people, it would be hypocritical to stop those fleeing in desperation. EU countries have also proposed military interventions to target traffickers on the Libyan coast and seize and destroy their vessels. But this option must be exercised with caution. These migrants hail from countries wrecked by civil wars, persecution, poverty and authoritarian regimes. Emerging from prolonged colonisation, these countries, ravaged by war and internecine conflict, have failed to govern and ensure peace. World nations have all but abandoned efforts to help many of these failed states. Despite a 55 per cent chance of asylum being rejected and poor conditions at many refugee camps, migrants are still paying money to rapacious traffickers and boarding unsafe vessels —  in the hope of a better life. Rather than condemn these desperate people to death, civilised nations must do the honourable thing.