By Daniel M. Austin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
BRUSSELS, Belgium – As violence and revolution continues to rattle nations throughout North Africa, European Union (E.U.) members disagree on how to respond to the crisis. In particular, there is wide disagreement on how to deal with the prospect of millions of North African refugees setting sail for southern Europe. The Italian government, in particular, has been urging other E.U. members to help find a solution to this looming crisis.
On Thursday, E.U. members Italy, Spain, France, Cyprus, Malta and Greece presented a joint proposal calling for a common asylum system to be in place by 2012. The proposal was presented during a meeting of E.U. interior ministers in Brussels. The plan also calls for dispersing the asylum seekers around all of Europe and not simply allowing the refugees to stay in the countries that ring the Mediterranean sea. The Spanish Interior Minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba echoed this sentiment when he claimed that “Italy was only the door of Europe”. Along with establishing this common asylum system, the proposal calls for funding which will be used to help nations like Italy process the refugees that arrive on their shores.
The Italian government and Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni have been sounding the alarm about a potential refugee crisis that could hit Europe. Mr. Maroni claims that as many as a million and a half Libyan refugees could seek asylum in Europe. His belief is that E.U. members should deal with this problem collectively. Recent reports suggest that after this proposal was introduced, several E.U. members were still hesitant about providing assistance.
The refugees that are sailing to southern Europe include people who are seeking a better economic situation as well as political refugees. The political refugees are especially important because the European Union has certain obligations related to human rights agreements which require the E.U. to identify and accept these people.
This migration of both political and economic refugees is also being monitored by the United Nations. Specifically, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has appealed to E.U. members to help deal with the potential wave of refugees related to the fighting in Libya. In addition to those displaced by the recent fighting in Libya, Frontex, the E.U.’s border protection agency, estimates that between 750,000 and 1.5 million additional economic refugees are in Libya waiting to make passage to Europe.
For more information, please see:
AFP – Europe divided over Italy’s warnings of Libya exodus – 25 February 2011
BBC – EU urged to share asylum burden amid N Africa turmoil – 25 February 2011
THE GUARDIAN – Is EU serious about supporting human rights across north Africa? – 25 February 2011
VOICE OF AMERICA – Libya Unrest Sparks Migrant Debate in the EU – 24 February 2011
