Status: 01/01/2023 4:38 p.m
In 2022, more people than ever tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Tunisia to Europe. Also on New Year’s Eve – several boats sank. 108 people were brought back to shore.
Several boats with migrants on board sank off the Tunisian coast on New Year’s Eve. The Tunisian National Guard announced that 108 people had been rescued from distress at sea. It was unclear whether there were dead or injured.
According to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), more than 18,000 people reached the Italian coast from Tunisia in 2022 – more than ever before. According to this, 580 people have been missing since their crossing.
Several dead in the past few days
Many people are also trying to come to Europe from other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Lebanese army, two people died off the coast of Lebanon on Saturday. About 200 people could be saved accordingly. Most of the refugees from Syria were on board.
The Libyan Coast Guard said it intercepted a ship carrying nearly 650 migrants and towed it back to shore. There were mainly people from Bangladesh, Syria and Egypt on board, according to the coast guard.
According to Moroccan media, 13 people died on Friday after a boat carrying migrants sank in the Mediterranean Sea. 25 more were rescued, eight were missing.
criticism of Libya
Every year tens of thousands of people attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea en route to Europe. Often they are pushed into ships that are hardly seaworthy. The journey is therefore considered life-threatening. Among the migrants are mostly people from Syria, Bangladesh and several African countries.
Libya in particular is repeatedly criticized because the country treats migrants inhumanely. Human rights organizations report on human traffickers and state internment camps. Local authorities and state-appointed armed groups were repeatedly accused of torture, rape and other human rights abuses.
The EU has not always stayed out of sea rescue. In response to several sunken ships with hundreds of dead off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the European operation “Mare Nostrum” was carried out from October 2013 to October 2014. In this context, around 150,000 people were rescued from distress at sea in Italian and international waters.
Since November 2014, “Mare Nostrum” has been replaced by Operation “Triton” by the EU border protection agency Frontex, which is intended to secure the EU’s external borders. Since 2015 there has also been Operation Sophia, with which the EU wants to take action against trafficking networks. Since the spring of 2019, however, no ships have been deployed as part of this operation.
Although Operation Sophia also saved around 44,000 people in distress at sea, human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the fact that the fight against smugglers and so-called irregular migration are at the expense of sea rescue. The fact that the EU is cooperating with the Libyan authorities is also causing criticism.
The English Channel is also crossed
According to the British government, more than 45,000 people crossed the English Channel from France to Great Britain. This is also the highest number so far. A record number of crossings occurred on August 22, with 1,295 migrants crossing to the UK.
The British government wants to pass new laws to prevent migrants from crossing. For example, it should be noted that people who have entered via the English Channel have no right to asylum.
The conservative government has been criticized in recent months for wanting to send migrants to Rwanda so that their asylum applications can be examined there. However, the High Court in London ruled in mid-December that the UK-Rwanda migration deal was in line with the Geneva Convention on Refugees. However, each individual case must be examined carefully.