EU foreign and interior ministers on Monday agreed on a 10-point plan at an emergency meeting in Luxembourg for the immediate actions to be taken in response to the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean Sea.
According to the European Commission's press release, the plan envisages beefing up the joint operations on the Mediterranean Sea, namely the Triton and Poseidon patrols, by increasing the financial resources and the number of assets.
Triton replaced Italy’s own Mare Nostrum mission which Rome scrapped late last year in protest that its EU partners did not share the burden of the cost.
The plan also includes additional assets to capture or destroy people smuggler boats and increase cooperation across the board. The emergency meeting was called after the death toll skyrocketed in Europe-bound migrant journeys.
Up to 700 migrants attempting to sail from troubled Libya are believed drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after their boat capsized soon after departure on April 19.
Earlier on April 12, another group of 400 people were presumed dead while attempting to make the same dangerous journey.
Ten points
- Reinforce the Joint Operations in the Mediterranean, namely Triton and Poseidon, by increasing the financial resources and the number of assets. We will also extend their operational area, allowing us to intervene further, within the mandate of Frontex;
- A systematic effort to capture and destroy vessels used by the smugglers. The positive results obtained with the Atalanta operation should inspire us to similar operations against smugglers in the Mediterranean;
- EUROPOL, FRONTEX, EASO and EUROJUST will meet regularly and work closely to gather information on smugglers modus operandi, to trace their funds and to assist in their investigation;
- EASO to deploy teams in Italy and Greece for joint processing of asylum applications;
- Member States to ensure fingerprinting of all migrants;
- Consider options for an emergency relocation mechanism;
- A EU wide voluntary pilot project on resettlement, offering a number of places to persons in need of protection;
- Establish a new return programme for rapid return of irregular migrants coordinated by Frontex from frontline Member States;
- Engagement with countries surrounding Libya through a joined effort between the Commission and the EEAS; initiatives in Niger have to be stepped up.
- Deploy Immigration Liaison Officers (ILO) in key third countries, to gather intelligence on migratory flows and strengthen the role of the EU Delegations.
