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UN agency urges EU for more robust search-and-rescue operation on Mediterranean Sea

Xinhua, February 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday urged the European Union (EU) to establish a more robust search-and-rescue operation on the Mediterranean Sea, making life-saving the topmost priority.

Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a statement that Europe's Operation Triton was "a woefully inadequate replacement" for Italy's former Mare Nostrum naval rescue operation.

His remarks were delivered in light of the recent deaths of at least 300 people who were trying to reach Europe from Libya on four dinghies.

"The focus has to be about saving lives. We need a robust search-and-rescue operation in the Central Mediterranean, not only a border patrol," Guterres stressed.

The Italian government launched the search-and-rescue operation Mare Nostrum after more than 360 migrants drowned within sight of Lampedusa Island in October 2013.

After saving more than 1,500 migrants at sea, Mare Nostrum was replaced last November by a smaller operation called Triton, at the initiative of the EU's Frontex border patrol agency.

UNHCR said Operation Triton focused on border surveillance, and has repeatedly expressed concerns about the discontinuation of Mare Nostrum without replacing it with a similar European search-and-rescue operation.

The head of UNHCR called on the EU to urgently establish a search-and-rescue operation similar in scope to Mare Nostrum, and warned that the absence of such an operation would result in more deaths for those "trying to reach safety in Europe."

Apart from urging European governments to reduce the loss of migrant lives at sea through improved surveillance and better search and rescue, UNHCR called for more focus on addressing the root causes of human migration, including more emphasis on political solutions to conflict, better opportunities for refugees in countries neighboring conflict zones, and the provision of safe and legal alternatives to dangerous boat journeys. Endit