1,830 dead migrants on the sea route estimated
A human disaster is currently happening in the Mediterranean Sea where more than 10,000 migrants have been picked up as they attempted to enter Europe from Libya. The International Organization for Migration estimates that nearly 1,830 migrants have died on the sea route this year compared to 207 in the same period last year.
Traffickers started taking advantage of the breakdown of authority in Libya to pack boats with paying migrants willing to cross the sea for a better life.
And the European operation against piracy in the Indian Ocean (EUNAVFOR Atalanta) has become a reference for possible maritime operation in the Mediterranean against those traffickers.
Created in 2008 as an operation to protect merchant ships again pirate attacks, mainly in the Gulf of Aden an particularly in the IRTC (International Recommended Transit Corridor) put in place to make sure vessels from the World Food Programme would reach the populations in need, Atalanta has become much more than a simple EU joint operation.
If the destruction of ships was not part of the original objectives of Atalanta, its actions soon grew offensive: in spring 2010, 18 months after its start, Atalanta adopted methods allowing it to disrupt both pirate bases and pirate ships and enhanced intelligence and surveillance.
The tactics used by the EU operation (and by other forces) to enter a maximum of mother ships (not simple skiffs) was one of the operations success vectors. But those vessels were more of the time empty and no collateral risk was therefore expected.
Recognition means and intelligence
Operation Atalanta has strong recognition means with several maritime patrol aircrafts based in different parts of the Indian Ocean (mainly in Djibouti and Seychelles) to regularly cover the area. From time to time, an AWACS aircraft is also required to lead strategic surveillance of the zone. And at the tactical level, some vessels (mainly Dutch) used maritime drones.
The interrogation of arrested pirates is a very important source of information and merchant ships that cross the zone play an important role in passing information to the Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa, the maritime information centre set up at Northwood military headquarters in the UK and the various information collected in neighbouring countries (Kenya or Djibouti).
The Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) is an initiative established by EU NAVFOR with close co-operation from industry. It provides 24-hour manned monitoring of vessels transiting through the Gulf of Aden, whilst the provision of an interactive website enables the Centre to communicate the latest anti-piracy guidance to industry, and for shipping companies and operators to register their vessels movements through the region.
Owners and operators who have vessels transiting the region are strongly encouraged to register their movements with MSCHOA to improve their security and reduce the risk of attacks or capture. Additionally, the Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia Based Piracy (BMP) and further information about combating piracy, and what action to take should they come under attack, can be downloaded on the MSCHOAs website.
A further initiative was the introduction of Group Transits; vessels are co-ordinated to transit together through the IRTC. This enables military forces to sanitise the area ahead of the merchant ships. MSCHOA also identifies particularly vulnerable shipping and co-ordinate appropriate protection arrangements, either from within Atalanta, or other forces in the region.
In 2012, the need for ground actions was put forward.
Recent actions in Yemen
In the margin of Atalanta, the French patrol boat LAdroit was deployed on March 30, for two weeks off the Yemeni coast, where he led the evacuation of 23 French nationals from Aden, in difficult conditions.
LAdroit also escorted several Yemeni dhow between the ports of Djibouti and Al Mukah, contributing to the evacuation of nearly a thousand people from Yemen, including more than 500 Djiboutian refugees.
The French ship then made call in Djibouti to refuel. Several authorities went on board, including the Ambassador of France to Djibouti, to congratulate the crew for its actions.
LAdroit now resumes his patrol off the Somali coast as part of the EU mission Atalanta to fight against piracy.
This triple action: information, sea destruction and destruction on land was recently considered as a model for a possible CSDP operation against human traffickers in the Mediterranean.
On 23rd April, an extraordinary European Council gathered to speak on the sensitive subject of migrants in the Mediterranean.
According to a draft declaration, EU leaders turn towards Atalanta to reduce if not end- the shipwrecks of migrants.
We must undertake systematic efforts to identify, capture and destroy the ships before they are used by traffickers, the document reported.
The head of European diplomacy Federica Mogherini was invited to immediately begin preparations for a possible security and defence operation, in accordance with international law.
The head of the Italian Government, Matteo Renzi, even requested the examination of the possibility of conducting targeted interventions against smugglers in Libya, which over the years became the country of embarkation of migrants and asylum applicants towards Italy and Malta.
If accepted, the organization of the EU military operation would be a first in the fight against illegal immigration but, of course, its implementation would take time.
But in order to do destroy boats in Libya, a legal mandate is required from the UN.
The ground action possibility for the Atalanta naval force in Somalia was almost never used because of its difficulty. EU leaders also need to think about measures to intervene during the crossing of migrant boats. And this would probably require giving more money to Frontex, the EUs border control agency.
However, the destruction of ships used by migrants already takes place at sea.
There are three main reasons for this:
- First, abandoned vessels are a hazard to navigation, especially at night, when, because of their size and lack of lighting, they cannot be seen, even in good weather.
- Second, a ship lost at sea can be seen from an airplane and it is not always clear if anyone is onboard. To maintain the high quality of emergency rescue at sea, it is necessary to destroy those boats immediately after all migrants have been evacuated.
- Third, abandoning a vessel could lead to the risk of it being used once again by a new team of traffickers.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, declared: the fundamental point is not so much the destruction of the vessels but it is the destruction of the business model of the traffickers. If you look at business model of the traffickers and the flows of money involved in trafficking, it may be that that money is financing terrorist activities.
Stressing the same point, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: one of the problems is that there might be foreign fighters, there might be terrorists, also trying to hide, to blend in on the smugglings vessels trying to cross over into Europe.
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