Coastal mission thwarts immigrants

It seems for those involved in the immigration issue there were few days off over the summer. The much talked-about ‘rapid reaction team’ made up of boats and planes from EU member states began patrolling off the west African coast in mid-August to help stem the flow of migrants towards the Canary Islands.

The mission, which was co-ordinated by the EU’s border agency Frontex but commanded by Spain, was preceded by a separate EU operation on the ground in the Canaries from 17 July to help identify and process immigrants arriving on the islands.

Along with Spanish vessels and helicopters, the mission, which will last between seven and nine weeks, is composed of one Portuguese and one Italian naval vessel and one Finnish and one Italian aircraft.

After much speculation as to what exactly the vessels and planes would do, it is now apparent that they are operating close to the African coast in an attempt to stop boatloads of immigrants from leaving.

"The aim is to stop the boats as close to the shore as they set off," said a spokeswoman for Frontex. "We are only active where our mandate dictates and that’s the borders. We can’t do development assistance."

The EU says the mission is one part of the way to deal with illegal immigration. "If they leave they’ll be exploited and so we don’t want them to leave," said a spokesman for Franco Frattini, European commissioner for justice, freedom and security. "That doesn’t mean it is the only thing we are doing, we also need to address the root causes [of immigration]."

But just as the EU and Spanish were busy over the summer trying to prevent people getting to Europe, would-be immigrants were stepping up their efforts to leave. "There have been a lot of people coming…the summer is the best time for immigrants to come as it’s a long journey and the weather is the best," said a Spanish Red Cross official. Up to 5,000 people arrived on the Canaries in August alone with almost 19,000 reaching the islands since the start of the year. The tragedies are also continuing with the deaths of scores of people over the summer. More than 20 people died at the end of August when their boats sank after leaving Mauritania and Senegal.

Some fear that patrolling missions in the sea, aiming to turn flimsy and overloaded boats back, may themselves present risks. When announcing the Canaries mission, Frattini said: "These operations are not about building ‘Fortress Europe’, these operations have a humanitarian character, aiming at saving lives at sea." But Amnesty International is concerned at an El País report which said 28 people died of starvation having been turned back to Senegal by the authorities. "The Commission talks about saving lives but the irony could be that lives may be put at risk by these missions," said Kris Pollet, Amnesty’s executive officer for immigration and asylum in Brussels.

A separate Frontex-headed mission to patrol the Mediterranean Sea around Malta was to start soon but has been held up by discussions with Libya, which many migrants wanting to sail across the Mediterranean pass through, over access to its waters and air space. Libya is demanding aid for co-operating on immigration and a ministerial meeting involving Libya, Malta and Italy will take place next week to resolve the issue. But it is not expected to be easy as Italy is refusing to negotiate over what it considers a life and death issue.

Libya, a former colony of Italy, believes that if the EU is serious about immigration it should pay for it, as its ambassador to Malta, Saad El Shlmani, told local media this week. "Some people think that because Libya is rich it can allocate all its funds to provide a service for others. If you want me to do this service, then you should pay for it. The EU is a rich entity," he said.

It seems for those involved in the immigration issue there were few days off over the summer. The much talked-about ‘rapid reaction team’ made up of boats and planes from EU member states began patrolling off the west African coast in mid-August to help stem the flow of migrants towards the Canary Islands.