The interior ministers of the European Union (EU) and the Schengen area meet this Friday in Brussels to discuss the situation on all migratory routes to and within Europe and the common measures to be adopted.
The extraordinary council of Interior Ministers, convened by the biannual Czech presidency of the Council of the EU, has the presence of third countries that make up the Schengen area -Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland-, and was scheduled after a diplomatic dispute between Italy and France caused by Italy’s refusal to host a humanitarian rescue ship.
Portugal is represented by the Secretary of State for Civil Protection, Patrícia Gaspar.
The convening of this meeting came after a request from the French Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne.
The recent refusal of the new Italian Government to host the humanitarian ship ‘Ocean Viking’ of the non-governmental organization (NGO) SOS Méditerranée, with more than 200 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean on board, has reopened the debate on migration problems within of the HUH.
The immigrants would later be welcomed in France, but the ‘Ocean Viking’ case ended up triggering a diplomatic crisis between Paris and Rome, with the French authorities calling for “European initiatives” for “better control of external borders.” [da UE] and solidarity mechanisms.
At today’s meeting, together with the new Pact on Migration and Asylum -presented by the European Commission on September 23, 2020-, a recent action plan will be discussed that includes 20 concrete measures to respond to the challenges of the Central Mediterranean, which includes Italy, and achieve joint responses to a general increase in migratory flows.
The Asylum Policy is the way in which the EU organizes the capacity of Member States to respond to migrants who arrive at the external borders of the EU and request asylum.
Italy is covered by the so-called Central Mediterranean route, one of the deadliest migratory routes, which leaves Libya, Algeria and Tunisia towards Europe, specifically the Italian and Maltese territories.
More than 50,000 people have died since 2014 on migration routes, most of them trying to reach Europe, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.
More than half of the 50,000 deaths documented by IOM occurred on routes to and within Europe, with the Mediterranean Sea claiming at least 25,104 lives.
Source: TSF
