Mediterranean turning into vast cemetery : UN rights chief
The UN’s High Commissioner for human rights says "callous" EU migration policies are turning the Mediterranean into a "vast cemetery" as migrant death toll is skyrocketing.
"Europe is turning its back on some of the most vulnerable migrants in the world, and risk turning the Mediterranean into a vast cemetery," Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein said on Monday.
He added that he was not “surprised” by the latest tragedy, referring to a fishing boat which capsized off the Libya coast on Sunday and is believed to have been carrying some 700 migrants on board.
The ship capsized about 60 miles (96 kilometers) off the Libyan coast and 120 miles (193 kilometers) south of the Italian island of Lampedusa on its way to Europe. Nearly 30 people survived the incident and were rescued. According to an unconfirmed survivor account, the number of illegal migrants on the ship was 950.
"These deaths, and the hundreds of others that preceded them in recent months were sadly predictable," he said, blaming "a continuing failure of governance accompanied by a monumental failure of compassion."
Earlier in the month, two other boats carrying migrants sank, killing around 450 people.
The commissioner called on the EU governments to stop "pandering to xenophobic populist movements that have poisoned public opinion on this issue," and to take more sophisticated and courageous approach to the situation.
10-point action plan
Also on Monday, the EU announced a 10-point action plan aimed at curtailing the flow of migrants crossing the Mediterranean and vowed to increase control and rescue operations.
The plan, which was approved by EU foreign and interior ministers during an emergency meeting in Luxembourg, will be presented to a summit on Thursday, a European Commission statement said.
“We need to show that same collective European sense of urgency we have consistently shown in reacting in times of crisis," said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Mogherini added that the situation in the Mediterranean is not a recent or passing problem.
The plan stipulates that the EU will increase internal cooperation and attempt to either capture or destroy human smuggler boats, the commission said.
It added that the 28-nation bloc will also initiate a new rapid return program for irregular migrants.
About 170,000 migrants entered the EU through Italy last year, with most of them departing from Libya, according to latest reports.
In accordance with the new plan, the EU will also increase cooperation efforts with neighbors of war-torn Libya.
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