Amnesty urges EU operation to end migrant boat tragedy
(PARIS) - Rights group Amnesty on Wednesday urged European leaders to launch a humanitarian operation to end the "spiralling tragedy" of the Mediterranean migrant shipwrecks on the eve of an emergency Brussels summit.
In a report released in Paris on Wednesday, it called the crisis "Europe's sinking shame" and demanded the urgent provision of "adequate ships, aircraft, and other resources, patrolling where lives are at risk".
Some 800 people are feared to have drowned when an overcrowded boat carrying migrants capsized on Sunday, the worst in a series of migrant shipwrecks that have claimed more than 1,750 lives this year -- 30 times higher than the same period in 2014.
European leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday for hastily arranged talks aimed at tackling the crisis.
John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's Director for Europe and Central Asia, called the summit an "historic opportunity to end a spiralling humanitarian tragedy of Titanic proportions."
"Europe's negligence in failing to save thousands of migrants and refugees who run into peril in the Mediterranean has been akin to firefighters refusing to save people jumping from a towering inferno," he added.
The Italian Navy suspended its search and rescue operation Mare Nostrum at the end of 2014 after fellow European Union members turned down requests for additional funds.
Suspending the operation had "contributed to a dramatic increase in migrant and refugee deaths at sea", Amnesty said.
The programme was replaced by border patrol mission Triton, but campaigners insist that its scope -- purely to control the EU's borders -- is inadequate, even after EU ministers agreed Monday on a 10-point plan to double its resources.
"It is time that the European Union understands that closing borders is not everything," Genevieve Garrigos, President of Amnesty International France, said on launching the report.
- 'Shameful' response -
Coast guard vessels are now largely responsible for search and rescue operations.
Despite the ending of Mare Nostrum, 2015 has already seen record numbers of refugees and migrants attempting to cross into Europe by sea, with over 24,000 arriving in Italy.
Sunday's disaster reportedly occurred when people on the boat rushed to one side as a passing merchant ship came to rescue them.
"They threw a rope ladder. Many tried to get on it and the boat capsized," survivor Mohammad, a 25-year-old Palestinian man from Lebanon told Amnesty.
Merchant vessels are obliged to rescue any migrants they come across, but Amnesty said it was unsafe and unfair to expect them to shoulder the burden.
"They are not designed, equipped or trained for maritime rescue," said the report.
"Despite all actors' efforts, and having saved of tens of thousands of lives this year, they cannot be expected to address the magnitude of the current humanitarian crisis."
Massimiliano Lauretti, a captain in the Italian navy, was quoted by Amnesty as saying that naval forces were ready to launch an immediate operation if a deal were worked out.
"If we are asked, we can re-start a humanitarian operation in a very short time, 48-72 hours," he said.
Along with providing boats and aircraft, the non-governmental organisation urged European governments to provide Italy and Malta with financial and logistical support.
Coinciding with the report's launch, members of the London-based NGO threw yellow roses into Paris's River Seine in tribute to the victims.
Campaigners also laid hundreds of body bags on Brighton beach in southern England to urge action from Britain.
"Until now, the UK government's response has been shameful but finally they have been woken up to the need to act," said Amnesty UK Director Kate Allen.