A decisive time for Europe

This is not an easy time for Europe. The continent has been hit by a wave of illegal migration that has tragically resulted in a loss of life on a huge scale. In the latest such incident, at least 900 migrants are believed to have been drowned when their ship capsized in the waters of the Mediterranean a few days ago. In the past few weeks, 1,300 people have lost their lives trying to reach the shores of Europe illegally.

The migrants are mostly from Libya, with a few other nationalities (Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Mali and Niger) thrown in. The issue has deeply divided Europe, where anti-immigrant feelings run high, partly spread by extreme right wing parties opposed to immigration, both legal and illegal. In fact, many pro-migrant commentators used to describe the continent as “Fortress Europe”. It is a multi-dimensional problem that cannot be defined clearly.

The most fundamental question is “can you just walk away while thousands of people drown in the high seas?”. In this context, it is a massive humanitarian issue. Human rights organisations have already harshly criticised European countries and their search and rescue organisations for looking away while the crisis unfolded. Just six months ago, the European Union launched “Triton” a Mediterranean patrol mission meant to end an Italian search-and-rescue operation viewed as too expensive and too much of an incentive for migrants to illegally cross the sea to try and reach Europe.

Migrants

On the other hand, if all illegal migrants get easy access to Europe, it will encourage more people to undertake the risky voyage in unsafe vessels. It is a very, very tough question to answer. Where do humanitarian concerns end and political/practical and logistical considerations begin?

The influx of migrants and refugees has overwhelmed Europe - especially Italy and other countries along the southern flank - in the past five years and caused divisions over who is responsible for what. In 2014, more than 276,000 migrants illegally entered the EU, the majority by sea, a 155 percent increase over 2013.

Now, the focus has shifted to stemming the tide at the source itself, mainly Libya, whose instability seems to be prompting many people to risk a sea voyage to rich European countries. A recent survey found that up to one million people are willing to cross illegally to Europe from Libya. In the long term, European countries are thinking of a strategy to stabilise Libya, which will end an incentive to leave its shores. They also want to crack down on the people smugglers who arrange the risky voyages, dubbed “the most macabre travel agents in history” by Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano. These people smugglers charge migrants sums they can ill-afford to cross the Mediterranean in unsafe boats.

Illegally

Europe can learn a lesson or two from Sri Lanka and Australia in this regard. Sri Lanka too experienced a wave of illegal migration by boat to Australia, which takes a very dim view of migrants trying to enter it illegally. The migrants were not even fleeing any conflict - they were purely economic migrants who had paid at least Rs.500,000 per person to the people smugglers. The two countries cooperated closely to end the menace and Sri Lanka policed its maritime borders effectively, as did Australia. It was possible to nab many boats, migrants and people smugglers. Australia too still carries advertisements and Public Service Announcements in the Sri Lankan media on the futility of trying to reach Australia illegally by boat.

Granted, the two situations are not exactly the same, but there are parallels. It is vital to restore stability to Libya, where the ISIS has gained a foothold in certain areas. ISIS could even pose a security threat to Italy and other European countries. But before taking any long term action on Libya in terms of governance, Italy hopes its EU partners will support an initiative to get a military mandate to destroy traffickers’ vessels before they can use them. The EU wants to focus on intelligence to dismantle smuggling networks and work more closely with neighbouring countries surrounding Libya to clamp down on the networks. The exact details are still unclear but a mandate from the EU - possibly also the UN - would be needed. Other proposals also include significantly boosting the EU's maritime patrol to help rescue migrants.

There is also a German-backed plan to spread migrants out more equally among EU countries, which is an extremely divisive issue, because some countries do not want any migrants at all on their doorstep. Italy, the country most affected by the crisis, is demanding a fully comprehensive political - and financial - solution to the migrant crisis, rather than an emotional, perhaps impractical, response by the EU and its member countries. Italian media say their country is confronting an “invasione migrant” (migrant invasion) while suffering an economic downturn.

Destination

And Italy is not even the final destination for most migrants - those arriving in Italy or Greece don't want to stay there, preferring to slip invisibly over national borders until they reach richer destinations like Germany, Sweden or the UK. Germany had 200,000 asylum applications last year alone. Under the new plans, the EU is likely to admit only around 5,000 illegal migrants per year - around 150,000 will be turned back.

Some analysts have called on European Governments to open up more avenues for legal migration, which may help stem the tide to some extent. It is even more important to generate better opportunities in the home countries, but this could take some time in the case of Libya which faces a long road to proper stability.

Whichever way you look at it, there is no escape from the fact that this decidedly has a human dimension. It is extremely difficult to watch idly as people die in their thousands and no civilised nation can let it happen. But it is equally important to nab the people smugglers who send innocent people to their deaths and end their capacity and operations.

International cooperation is vital to end human trafficking and smuggling, not just in Europe but also globally.