archiv.ffm-online

Quelle: AlarmPhone | pdf | 27.11.2016

Violence against migrants and NGOs escalates – Record numbers of crossings and deaths in the Central Med

Instead of increasing rescue capacities, the EU is concentrating its efforts on deterring unwanted travellers. In late October, the EU’s naval operation EUNAVFOR MED/Sophia has started to train the so-called Libyan coast guard on their vessels, showing them how to do the dirty job of preventing travellers from leaving Libyan waters.

In the six-week period covered by this report, the violence in the Central Mediterranean Sea has escalated. We witnessed numerous shipwrecks, a soaring death toll, and repeated attacks against migrant boats and civil rescue vessels by Libyan authorities. Instead of increasing rescue capacities, the EU is concentrating its efforts on deterring unwanted travellers. In late October, the EU’s naval operation EUNAVFOR MED/Sophia has started to train the so-called Libyan coast guard on their vessels, showing them how to do the dirty job of preventing travellers from leaving Libyan waters. Moreover, in early October, the EU transformed its border agency Frontexinto the European Border and Coastguard Agency, providing it with further competencies and responsibilities, an increased budget, and for the first time with its own equipment and staff. The transformed structures are not intended to improve the agency’s rescue capacities but to more effectively combat unwanted travellers trying to reach Europe and to facilitate deportations.

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