IFRC Migration Lead Concerned Over States' Refusal To Let Rescue Ships Disembark Migrants

Refusals to let people rescued at sea disembark does not resolve the issue of migration, while migrants keep dying over an insufficient number of rescue operations, Tiziana Bonzon, the migration and displacement lead at the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2018) Refusals to let people rescued at sea disembark does not resolve the issue of migration, while migrants keep dying over an insufficient number of rescue operations, Tiziana Bonzon, the migration and displacement lead at the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), told Sputnik.

"Building new barriers or not allowing rescued people to safely disembark, does not solve the issue. People who move for different reasons continue to take increasing risks and die in the Mediterranean, also because of fewer search and rescue operations," Bonzon said.

Earlier this year, Italy and Malta refused to let several ships that rescued migrants at sea dock in their ports.

The IFRC Migration lead stressed that while a number of arrivals to Europe are still recorded, there has been a substantial decrease in comparison with 2016 and 2017. However, according to data from the International Organization for Migration, proportion of fatalities per crossings has increased. In 2016, one in 88 migrants using the central Mediterranean route were reported dead or missing, while in 2017 this number increased to one in 36. Many of these events are not reported or recorded, according to Bonzon.

Bonzon remarked that states should be responsible for portraying a more unified front on the issue of migration.

"States should work together to reconcile different interests and show more solidarity. They should work with humanitarian actors to ensure lives are saved and that vulnerable migrants have access to essential services," Bonzon said.

Bonzon stated that the perception that there was an unmanageable influx of refugees and migrants to European countries was false.

"There are perceptions in Europe that the arrival of migrants and refugees is not manageable. However, figures show that arrivals have decreased. We should also acknowledge that other countries such as Lebanon or Turkey continue to host very large refugee and migrant populations and that more solidarity is expected," Bonzon said.

The IFRC lead remarked that legal pathways should be implemented to deter migrants from resorting to unsafe channels.

"We can only welcome that legal pathways are implemented, better expanded rather than taking a more restrictive approach to migration. If people are offered opportunities to migrate safely and through regular channels, they would not have to turn to illicit practices such as smuggling," Bonzon said.

The UN Migration Agency said earlier this week that the total number of migrant arrivals by sea in Italy went down from 181,436 in 2016 to 119,369 in 2017. In the period between January 1 and September 16 this year, a total of 20,777 people arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean Sea.

In Greece, the number of sea arrivals dropped from 173,614 in 2016 to 29,595 in 2017. In the first eight and a half months of 2018, 22,153 people arrived in Greece via the Mediterranean.

At the same time, the number of arrivals by sea in Spain increased from 8,162 in 2016 to 22,108 in 2017. A total of 33,611 migrants arrived in Spain in the period between January 1 and September 16 this year via the Mediterranean Sea.