Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1235679
8 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 15 APRIL 2020 NEWS ANALYSIS Criminalising the Good IN an indirect reference to mi- grant rescue NGOs, this week Malta's foreign minister Evarist Bartolo described assisting and "urging" human traffickers by rescuing migrants taken out at sea from Libya, as "an inhumane act". In far more inflammatory lan- guage, longtime Labour Party activist Alfred Grixti, the CEO of Malta's social welfare agency FSWS, called on government to impound and scuttle boats used in the rescue of migrants. This triggered an onslaught of unsubstantiated claims of collu- sion between NGOs and smug- glers, echoing a smear campaign by populist politicians which accuses NGOs of colluding with smugglers, acting as a pull-fac- tor, and ultimately even endan- gering migrants. But is there any truth behind these allegations? NGOs usurp the role of the state sowing confusion Operation Mare Nostrum, which saw Italy taking an ac- tive role in rescuing migrants, was launched in response to public outcry over a shipwreck that killed over 300 people near Lampedusa in 2013. But in an attempt to deter migrants from crossing the Mediterranean, the EU and its member states pulled back from Mare Nostrum and subsequently even from the more restricted Operation So- phia, leading to record numbers of deaths. But it was only after 2015 that NGOs became a major player in sea rescue operations and this only happened after more than 1,200 people perished at sea in the 12 and 18 April 2015 ship- wrecks – the largest to have been documented in recent Mediter- ranean history. These NGOs were forced to deploy their own rescue missions in a desperate attempt to fill the gap of retreat- ing EU navies, to reduce casual- ties. But the increase in the death toll was the result of the termi- nation of the Italian Mare Nos- trum operation, which had pa- trolled close to the Libyan coast to rescue migrants in distress. The end of Mare Nostrum left a gap in Search and Rescue (SAR) capabilities that was meant to deter migrants and instead led to a staggering increase in deaths at sea in early 2015. Their role was recognized by the Socialist Group in the European parliament, which in October 2018 nominat- ed Proactiva Open Arms, SOS Mediterranée, Médecins Sans Frontières International, Sea- Watch, SeaEye, Jugend Rettet, Lifeline, MOAS,Save the Chil- dren, PROEM-AID and Boat Refugee Foundation for the EU's top human rights prize, the Sakharov Prize, for defending human rights and saving lives in the Mediterranean Sea. "These NGOs represent the most hu- man face of migration. Where many EU governments failed, NGOs stepped up and have be- come an essential provider for search and rescue (SAR) mis- sions around the Mediterrane- an Sea. More than 110,000 lives were saved by them since 2015. Over 40% of all rescue missions, only in 2018, were operated by them," S&D Vice President Ele- na Valenciano said. But the presence of NGOs may have posed another major prob- lem for EU governments: that of hindering their bid to delegate the policing of the EU's exter- nal border to the Libyan coast guard. The EU has sent more than €328 million to Libya, with an additional €41 million approved in early December, largely chan- neled through U.N. agencies. A thorough investigation by the Associated Press in 2019 found that in a country without a func- tioning government, "huge sums of European money have been diverted to intertwined net- works of militiamen, traffickers and coast guard members who exploit migrants". The militias torture, extort and otherwise abuse migrants for ransom in detention centres, often in compounds that receive millions in European money, the AP investigation showed. Many migrants also simply disappear from detention centres, sold to traffickers or to other centres. The same militias conspire with some members of Liby- an coast guard units. The coast guard gets training and equip- ment from Europe to keep mi- grants away from its shores. But coast guard members return some migrants to the detention centres under deals with mili- tias, the AP found, and receive bribes to let others pass en route to Europe. NGO rescue missions act as a pull factor for migrants The accusation that NGO res- cue missions act as a pull factor was levelled against state and EU sanctioned missions Mare Nos- trum and Operation Sophia by populist far-right politicians like Matteo Salvini. But data suggests that the pres- ence of NGOs and other rescue missions has little impact on arrivals. Migration along the western Mediterranean route from Morocco registered a 46% increase between 2015 to 2016, in the absence of any NGO res- cue missions. It is the worsening economic and political crises that affect several regions across the African continent, includ- ing the turmoil raging in Libya, which have played a major role in driving the numbers of mi- grants crossing up. Faced with the horrendous sit- uation in Libya, migrants have little choice but to attempt the sea crossing, with or without proactive SAR. This was clear- ly demonstrated by the report Death by Rescue which showed that the termination of the Mare Nostrum operation did not lead to less crossings being registered in early 2015 – only to more deaths. NGOs collude with smugglers for pecuniary gain The Italian coast guard on 2 August 2017 seized the Iu- venta, a ship operated by the German NGO Jugend Rettet, on suspicion of aiding illegal immigration, and accused the crew of having contact with smugglers. However Italian au- thorities stopped short of say- ing the NGO had colluded with smugglers for financial benefit, saying they believe the motiva- tion was "exclusively human- itarian". A previous investiga- tion concluded in May 2017 by Catania's chief prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro also found no evidence that the humanitarian groups were or are receiving il- As the Maltese government accuses migrant rescue charities of abetting human traffickers under the stress of the COVID-19 effort, JAMES DEBONO fact-checks the claims criminalising these NGOS