EU under pressure on immigration policy after Mediterranean tragedy

After a shipwreck last week that killed more than 400 migrants, the latest migrant tragedy that may have killed hundreds of people on the night of April 18 has fueled calls for the European Union to take a stronger response to the worsening migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

Hundreds of people are feared drowned after a boat carrying around 700 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea south of the Italian island of Lampedusa on the night of April 18. The Italian coast guard has launched a major rescue operation to try to find survivors but only 28 people have been rescued and 21 bodies have been recovered.

This is the latest accident to happen to migrants on their journey to find a better life in Europe, but it is full of risks and puts Europe in front of great challenges.

A boat carrying immigrants (left) in the Mediterranean Sea (Photo: Reuters)

According to Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, the European Union "cannot act as if each tragedy will be the last".

“If we do not tackle the problem at its root, we will never end it. Every day in the Mediterranean, we witness a massacre, we are saddened by the loss of so many people who seem to have been forgotten,” Renzi stressed.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), about 20,000 migrants have reached Italy's shores this year. That's fewer than in the first four months of last year, but the death toll is nine times higher. Italy is expected to receive up to 250,000 illegal migrants by sea this year, an unprecedented number.

According to the Italian government, instability in North Africa and the wars in Syria and Iraq are among the main reasons for the increasing flow of refugees to Europe. Last year, Italy received 170,000 migrants, mostly from North Africa, as many as had arrived in the previous three years combined.

The rapid increase in immigration has pushed Italy into a difficult situation, with reception centers already overloaded and public opposition growing.

“At the moment, reception centers across the country are almost full,” said Daniel Albanese, an Italian rescue worker. “And so if the wave of migrants continues to pour into Italy, these camps will face the risk of being overrun. It can be said that the new wave of migrants after Easter is testing the entire Italian asylum system.”

The arrival of more than 10,000 migrants in Italy in just one week and this latest migrant tragedy have shown the urgency of the situation and put European institutions under urgent need to review their policies.

There are many criticisms of the “Triton” border protection operation launched by the European Union in early 2014, saying that it is ineffective and too small in scale, only rescuing migrants if a distress signal is received.

In an interview with Canal+ television channel, French President Francois Hollande on April 19 requested increased resources for the "Triton" operation, and urged a meeting of European Union interior and foreign ministers to step up rescue efforts and prevent similar immigration tragedies.

Meanwhile, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, stressed that it is time for Europe to face such disasters. All member states must share responsibility and if Europe cannot solve the problem, it can ask the United Nations to intervene.

The European Union is expected to soon hold a meeting of foreign ministers of its 28 member states in Luxembourg to discuss the issue.

According to VOV