Swiss Review 2/2018

13 Swiss Review / March 2018 / No.2 even caused people to drown. This is revealed in a report published at the end of 2017 by Amnesty International, which refers to an incident that oc- curred on 6 November, during which the manoeuvres of a coastguard frig- ate played a part in the drowning of around 50 people. The FDJP said that it did not have any official information to confirmthe incident. “However, the alarming number of ships that have sunk in the Mediterranean Sea – with 2,832 deaths in 2017 – obliges us to help en- sure better protection for migrants. The IOMproject for sea rescue was set up to pursue this humanitarian objec- tive,” says Emmanuelle Jaquet von Sury. Amnesty points to double stand- ards. “The European states, which are well aware of the serious violations suffered by refugees and migrants in Libya, have chosen to control migra- tion by supporting the Libyan author- ities. By stopping the crossings, they are keeping thousands of people in a countrywhere they are systematically subjected to abuse and where they have little or no chance of finding pro- tection,” it states. “The people saved at sea tell us that they would prefer to die than return to detention centres in Libya,” says Caroline Abu Sa’Da, director of SOS Méditérannée Suisse, an association involved in the rescue operations car- ried out by the vessel Aquarius. She believes it is impossible to trust the LCG. “Who are these coastguards ac- tually? They are just militia carrying out interception operations and tak- ing migrants back to detention facili- ties where the conditions are atro- cious, sometimes preventing aid from NGOs reaching them. Switzerland cannot turn a blind eye by simply be- ing satisfied that these units are tak- ing people out of the water.” As the organiser of the third meet- ing of the Central MediterraneanCon- tact Group inNovember 2017 in Berne, “Switzerland is aligning itself with a repressive European policy which aims to prevent access formigrants to Europe,” comments Vincent Chetail, Director of the Global Migration Cen- tre of the Graduate Institute of Inter- national and Development Studies in Geneva. The European Union (EU) provided 46 million euros in 2017 to strengthen the intervention capacities of the Libyan authorities. It highlights the fact that this policy led to a signif- icant reduction in the number of crossings last year. The FDJP indicates that this strategy has enabled the res- cue of 14,000 people at sea. “Libya, which has not ratified the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, is not a country of asylum. It is not safe nor does it offer protection. There is no system in place and the funds allocated will be misused,” counters the professor of interna- tional law, who believes that “Europe is making itself complicit to abuse.” Forced to undertake even more hazardous crossings The expert condemns an ineffective policy that increases the dangers. “The crossings from Libya or Tunisia are the easiest routes. If they are blocked off, the flow of migrants will shift elsewhere, increasing the risk of crossings that endanger human life.” The founder of the Global Migration Centre believes the overall percep- tion of migration is distorted. “In 2015, the number of asylum seekers arriving in Europe stood at 1.2 mil- lion, which is 0.2% of the EU popula- tion, and that was a statistical peak. It cannot therefore be called a mass influx. The real challenges are help- ing the reconstruction of Libya and reviewing migration policy, in par- ticular by opening up legal access routes to Europe,” says Chetail. Ac- cording to Amnesty International, almost half a million people set sail between 2015 and 2017, resulting in 10,000 deaths. The number of exiles in Libya exceeds 400,000 people ac- cording to the IOM, and an estimated 20,000migrants are being held in de- tention centres. In addition to the UNHCR and the IOM, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which visits de- tention facilities in Libya, also at- tended the third contact group meet- ing in Berne in November 2017 and pointed out that “a migration policy must also aim to reduce the use of de- tention centres as a means of manag- ing migration, as well as reduce the abuse of migrants.” The organisation recommended “improving the man- agement of human remains and data about deceased persons to facilitate the provision of information about their death and where it occurred for the families of the deceased”, accord- ing to spokesperson Thomas Glass. In the Mediterranean, winter has not stopped the crossings. On Tues- day 16 January, the crew of the Aquar- ius carried out five consecutive res- cue operations, saving 505 lives. On the same day, the Italian coastguard, which has coordinated a total of 11 rescue operations – by NGOs and merchant vessels – estimated that 1,400 people had been saved off the coast of Libya. “It’s impossible to cover the entire rescue zone with three NGO boats which are perma- nently stationed there,” SOS Méditer- ranée said, calling upon European states to commit to establishing a Eu- ropean rescue fleet to prevent thou- sands of deaths.