EU Commission sets out urgent steps to ease migrant crisis

New measures to tackle a migration crisis in the Mediterranean include destroying smugglers' boats and a new programme to send migrants home, the European Commission said on Monday.

The measures are part of a 10-point action plan to prevent tragedies after 900 people were feared killed while trying to reach Europe over the weekend, and operations were underway on Monday to rescue migrants on another sinking ship in the Mediterranean Sea.

The European Commission said the plan, approved by European Union foreign and interior ministers at an emergency meeting in Luxembourg, will be submitted to a summit Thursday as the 28-member bloc tries to halt a growing death toll off its southern shores.

"We need to show that same collective European sense of urgency we have consistently shown in reacting in times of crisis," EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said.

The plan put forward by the Commission also calls for the reinforcement of EU border control operations in the Mediterranean with more money and equipment and extending its operational area.

It proposes a "systematic effort to capture and destroy vessels used by smugglers" and set up a new programme for the rapid return of migrants.

EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos also said the Commission will propose a pilot programme to share resettlement of migrants across the bloc.

The EU’s law enforcement, border control, asylum and prosecutors’ agencies will meet regularly and work closely to gather information on how the smugglers operate, to trace their funds and help investigate them, according to the plan.

The EU’s asylum support office will also deploy teams in Italy and Greece for joint processing of asylum applications, and EU governments will fingerprint all migrants.

Other points on the plan include the EU considering options for an “emergency relocation mechanism” for migrants and engaging with countries surrounding Libya through a joint effort between the Commission and the EU’s diplomatic service.

The EU will also deploy immigration liaison officers abroad to gather intelligence on migratory flows and strengthen the role of the EU delegations.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP)
20/4/15
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