The global community is shocked after the latest refugee drama in the Mediterranean: an estimated 900 people drowned after a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Libya. In the midst of grief and outrage, the EU struggles with the accusation of not having done enough to stop the dying at its borders.
Allianz Open Knowledge spoke with German migrant researcher Klaus Bade, who demands a long-overdue global summit on migration.
Open Knowledge: Two years after Lampedusa, the Mediterranean remains a watery graveyard. Why does the EU, a holder of the Nobel Peace Prize, have problems rescuing these migrants?
Because everyone can agree on their outrage, issue appeals for help, and pass resolutions, but no one can agree on how they can work together to offer concrete support. The first step would be to get rid of 'Triton' [the EU’s effort to support the Italian migrant rescue operation, Mare Nostrum] and replace it – but not with an Italian project with a small amount of EU funding, but rather as a joint project for the EU community. And instead of waging war on refugees, they should focus on fighting human traffickers with the same tactics as used against pirates in Somalia. The European secret services have a fairly good idea of how these Mafia-style trafficking operations work.