Sir, – At the weekend, nearly 1,000 people died in the Mediterranean trying to reach a place of safety. Each one of the people who died at sea was a human being – a father, a mother, a daughter, a son, sister or brother. In response to this recent tragedy that marked the largest loss of life in one incident at sea, there is an urgent need for Europe to expand its search-and-rescue operations and open up more entry channels for those seeking protection.
A 10-point action plan on migration was outlined at a joint foreign and home affairs European Council meeting on April 20th.
The action plan focuses primarily on military action against smugglers and refers, for example, to “systematic efforts to capture and destroy vessels used by the smugglers”.
Such an approach will not stop people taking these hazardous boats when there is no other way for them to reach safety in Europe. The proposal to reinforce the joint search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean must be on a level of the previous Italian Mare Nostrum operation if it is to have a meaningful impact and save more lives. Failure to provide the necessary resources and personnel for these operations will lead to more deaths at sea.
Furthermore the number of refugees that could be resettled in Ireland should be substantially increased. On the 60th anniversary of the Refugee Convention in 2011, Ireland made a commitment to continue to take refugees under a resettlement programme but has not yet met its target of 200 per year.
At a time of crisis, we could show much greater solidarity with both other EU states and with refugees.
Finally, at the emergency European Council summit meeting tomorrow, the Government should call for a large-scale search-and-rescue operation with sufficient capacity and resources, as well as the opening of safe entry channels for those seeking protection in Europe. – Yours, etc,
MARIA HENNESSY,
Irish Refugee Council,
Dublin 2.