Frontex Says Charities Collude With People Smugglers
The E.U.’s border agency, Frontex, has accused charities of colluding with people smugglers in the Mediterranean. In a confidential report, Frontex said smugglers were aiming to join up with charity-run boats.
The report, seen by the Financial Times [subscription site], reveals tensions between NGOs and the E.U. over how to respond to the refugee crisis. Frontex said that smugglers had “clear indications before departure on the precise direction to be followed in order to reach the NGOs’ boats.”
Elsewhere in the report, shared among E.U. officials and diplomats, Frontex says people rescued by NGO vessels were often “not willing to cooperate with debriefing experts at all,” with some claiming “that they were warned [by NGOs] not to cooperate with Italian law enforcement or Frontex.”
While rescues triggered by a distress signal accounted for two-thirds of incidents this summer, this had dropped to one-tenth by October. Frontex alleges that this has resulted from the launch of charity vessels.
Aurelie Ponthieu, from Médecins Sans Frontières, which operates two rescue boats, told the FT, “We are actively searching for boats in distress. We spot them earlier. This is a response to the needs that we see at sea. If that proves collusion, I do not think so.”
An estimated 4,700 people have died trying to reach Europe from North Africa this year.
Aid Deals Are Lowering African Migration, E.U. Claims
The European Commission said its deals with African countries were reducing migration. The E.C.’s vice president said she saw “positive results” from agreements aimed at deterring migration.
The E.U. has identified five “priority countries” – Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal – where it is concluding deals in which aid is made conditional to deterring migration.
The progress cited included Niger, where the number of people crossing the desert dropped from 70,000 in May to 1,500 in November; in addition, 4,430 people have been repatriated and 2,700 have been deported from the E.U.
The E.U.’s high representative on foreign affairs, Federica Mogherini, said, “The Partnership Framework is showing positive results and important building blocks for new cooperation on migration management have been agreed.”
The E.U. will also be sending “migration liaison officers” to all five priority countries in early 2017, it announced.
Nations Gather in Ottawa to Learn From Canada’s Refugee Resettlement
Delegations from eight countries are in Ottwawa to explore Canada’s successful refugee policy.
Canada pioneered the private sponsorship of refugees in the 1970s, with non-government groups helping newcomers to relocate.
The approach has seen hundreds of thousands of refugees resettling in Canada and has helped build public support for hosting refugees.
Representatives from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Chile, Germany, New Zealand and the U.S. are attending the conference, which finishes December 16.
“The world is living through the worst refugee crisis it has seen in decades,” Canada’s minister of immigration, John McCallum, told a press conference at the start of the three-day forum.
“This initiative … could make a significant impact on the refugee crisis,” he said, adding, “It won’t solve it. It’s a huge crisis … but it could make a difference.”
Johannes Van Der Klaauw of the U.N. refugee agency said, “Private sponsorship by ordinary citizens, by professionals … shows how individuals are engaged for refugees to create this welcoming society that today we need more than ever.”