Lampedusa's
overcrowded refugee camps made headlines last year. Those facilities
may have mostly emptied since, but Amnesty International says the
EU's refugee policy still has major faults.
In
recent days, London-based human rights organization Amnesty
International has worked to draw attention to the fate of North
African refugees struggling to reach Europe by boat. Many of them
arrive on the tiny Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, which belongs
to Italy. Other refugees end up in Sicily or Malta. This summer has
seen a decrease in the number of refugees from North Africa. But
Nicolas Berger, Director of Amnesty International's European
Institutions Office, told DW the fundamental problem has not changed.
DW:
Mr. Berger, you just visited Lampedusa. What is the situation like
there?
Nicolas
Berger: The situation is currently calm. There are still refugees,
but in numbers the island can cope with. Last year, the situation was
difficult. We currently have 100 activists from 20 countries on
Lampedusa monitoring how many people die every year.
Last
year, about 1,500 people died. Still we want to draw attention not
only to the deaths, but also to heroic deeds on Lampedusa. One night,
1,000 people arrived there. It is a small island with no source of
water and 6,000 inhabitants. They behaved very heroically.
Where
do people landing in Lampedusa originally come from? Are they from
countries on the Mediterranean Sea, or more southern African
countries like Senegal, Mali and Somalia?
 |
Berger wants the EU to implement a
fairer policy for refugees
|
The
majority are true refugees who come from countries like Eritrea and
Sudan where life is almost impossible. The situation in Libya has not
changed. There are rumors that some of the refugees were mercenaries
who helped [deposed Libyan ruler Moammar] Gadhafi, but those are
completely untrue. People are still being persecuted, imprisoned and
tortured in Libya.
Their
flight takes them across the Mediterranean. At the moment, though,
people who need protection are not North Africans but people facing
severe conditions in southern parts of Africa.
How
do you judge the behavior of the Italian authorities since last year?
How has Italy dealt with these refugees?
Unfortunately,
very little has changed. Italy had an agreement with Libya when
Gadhafi was still in power. People picked up at sea were simply
returned to Libya in so-called "push-backs." The European
Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has strongly condemned the policy
as a massive human rights violation.
You
have to imagine: these people went directly back to being tortured in
Libyan prisons. Italy wants to reinstitute the program. There has
been a new, secret agreement made known by the Italian press. Just
two days ago, an Italian minister was in Libya to discuss how to
proceed in the future. Thus, nothing has changed. And there is very
little understanding on the part of the Italian government.
In
recent years, Italy has tried working with European border protection
agency Frontex on intercepting boats of refugees. Has the practice
continued this summer, or has it abated?
As
before, there is a relatively high death rate at sea, which we find
very regrettable. Just last week, 54 people died on a ship. Way too
few sea rescues are attempted, while too much emphasis is placed on
border controls.
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A Lampedusa monument to
migrants who died en route
|
The
refugees are not just in Italy, but also Malta, Cyprus and Greece.
And refugees' main path is not through the sea, but land routes
through Turkey and Greece. Do you have information on these refugees?
A growing number of reports indicate Greece is not doing enough about
the situation.
Greece
has always had sub-standard procedures and conditions. Violence
against immigrants, including police brutality, has greatly
increased. Right-wing groups have chased immigrants into the streets
with the intent of killing them.
The
Greek situation has seen small improvements, in the sense that the
government has tried to change asylum procedures. But the situation
is still below any European standard.
Pressure
at the border between Turkey and Greece has eased up a bit. The area
previously saw 1,000 refugees per week. Now the figure is in the
hundreds. But we are of course very concerned that bankrupt Greece is
spending 13 million euros ($15.8 million) to build a fence along its
border. As a result, refugees are likely to drown trying to cross
river boundaries.
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| Greece is working to stem the tide of refugees |
The
refugee problem is most affecting the same countries that are
suffering the worst from the eurozone debt crisis. Do you think other
European countries should take care not to leave southern Europe
alone?
Of
course, but there are always two sides to the equation. Naturally,
every EU member state has to have humane asylum systems. This should
be a given, but it isn't for every country. The situation is
particularly bad in Cyprus and Malta. These states could do much
more.
On
the other hand, it is understandably difficult for Malta to host
thousands of refugees. It's just a small country. Here, solidarity
from other EU member nations should be applied. You see, Germany is
taking just five percent of the refugees it did in the 1990s, before
new asylum rules came into force.
Still,
solidarity is not only important within the EU. It is important to
note that four-fifths of the world's refugees head for the poorest
countries. Europe is not even taking a small portion of what would be
its fair share of all the global refugees.
Author: Bernd Riegert /
srs
Editor: Greg Wiser
Editor: Greg Wiser
21.07.2012
