Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/599604
8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 2015 News WIN a copy of the newly launched book To win a copy of this unique book tick the right answers: Tick all the Maltese products: ❒ Lacto ❒ Ilma żahar ❒ Red Leaf ❒ Għażżiel ❒ Hopleaf Send your answers by 10 November to: MediaToday, WIN A BOOK FROM BDL, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann The winners of the last competition, and who won the book, 'Wild flowers of the Maltese Islands' are Ms R Brincat from Rabat and Mr Emanuel Muscat from Mosta. The correct answers were: Maltese Fleabane, Sulla and the Giant Fennel By Charles B. Spiteri, published by BDL Drawwiet u Tifkiriet Almost 800,000 people reach Europe by sea MIRIAM DALLI ARRIVALS of migrants and refu- gees to Europe by sea this year ap- proached 800,000 up to the first week of November, a figure that amounts to nearly four times the total for all of 2014, the Interna- tional Organisation for Migration has confirmed. The figures were issued on the eve of the Valletta Summit, dur- ing which over 60 heads of state and government will meet for a two-day summit the European Union sought with African na- tions, to discuss the refugee and migration crisis. IOM also reported that the to- tal number of fatalities on the sea routes now total 3,455 – deaths that have been repeatedly f lagged by human rights organisations as they urged European leaders to provide safe routes. "Stated commitments to human rights at Valetta will be nothing more than hollow words unless the Summit concretely results in an increase in the availability of resettlement places and water- tight safeguards for human rights in any agreements made on bor- der and migration management," said Iverna McGowan, Acting Di- rector of Amnesty International's European Institutions office. "Clear and concrete proposals on safe and legal routes are glaringly absent from the Valletta agenda and declaration, and backroom bilateral agreements in the mar- gins risk having a serious adverse human rights impact. The lack of transparency around so many of these agreements is already a red f lag." Most Syrians now try to reach Europe via Turkey, Greece and the Western Balkans. Some 630,000 migrants and refugees, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, have reached the Greek islands so far this year. "Ensuring that people can live in safety and dignity should be the overarching aim of migration cooperation and development as- sistance," said Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "For that to happen, at the Valletta Summit and beyond, it's vital for human rights and refugee protection to stand as core prin- ciples for any common EU-Africa efforts." The summit will bring together EU countries, EU institutions, the African Union, and African coun- tries participating in the Rabat Process and the Khartoum Proc- ess, two forums for dialogue and cooperation about migration and development. Participants are expected to agree to a political declaration and an action plan on develop- ment, refugee protection, and migration. HRW said that the EU should not only protect the rights of migrants and asylum seekers within its own borders but also increase safe, legal, and orderly channels into the EU. Leaked draft versions of the declaration and action plan in- cluded promoting legal migration channels for work, study, and re- search; increased development aid and humanitarian assistance; and capacity building to improve the rule of law, governance, and protection of refugees and other displaced people; and enhanced search and rescue efforts. The draft action plan, dated Oc- tober 26, also contained a strong emphasis on increased border cooperation, enhanced migration management, combatting smug- gling, and facilitating the return of irregular migrants. "While there is nothing wrong with such efforts per se, EU gov- ernments' consistent emphasis on stemming f lows raises concerns that the EU governments will seek to use the Valletta Summit and other cooperative frameworks with African governments to win their support for preventing mi- gration," HRW said. "This approach risks channel- ling funds and expertise into in- stitutions or agencies with abu- sive records, and could deter or restrict the f light of persecuted people from African countries collaborating with the EU on mi- gration programmes." The Khartoum Process, involv- ing the EU and Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya, Egypt, and Tu- nisia, has raised particular con- cerns that the EU will channel significant funds through abusive governments with the aim of de- terring migration, including by nationals from these countries f leeing persecution. "While the aims of these projects may be laudable, it's alarming to see funding to agencies and security forces from countries like Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, which are among the top refugee-producing coun- tries precisely because of human rights abuses," Sunderland said. "Any projects have to be carefully thought through, and subjected to regular monitoring for poten- tial human rights concerns." The Rabat Process is an inter- governmental process involving EU and African governments, with the objective to "create a framework for dialogue and con- sultation" on migration and de- velopment. The EU governments were en- couraged to avoid migration co- operation with refugee-producing countries, given the significant risk that such efforts would be used to block departures and ac- cess to protection. "Failure to focus on human rights abuses contradicts the cor- nerstone of EU foreign policy as required by the EU human rights action plan and is counterproduc- tive to the EU's long-term objec- tives of managing migration and tackling the root causes of refugee f lows," HRW said. "Like the wire fences being erected across Europe, deals to stem migration f lows at the ex- pense of human rights will only work in the short term. EU gov- ernments should lead by exam- ple, take responsibility for asylum seekers on their territory, and en- sure that respect for human rights remains a cornerstone of EU for- eign relations with African and other partners." Amnesty International also called on EU leaders to increase safe and legal routes to Europe, including through resettlement, family reunification and humani- tarian admissions. "This is particularly pertinent in the context of the Valetta Sum- mit given that almost 50 percent of people arriving in Italy from North Africa are coming from the top 10 refugee-producing coun- tries according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR. Safe and legal routes must feature on the agenda of the following European Sum- mit in Valetta and in the EU's re- sponse to the global refugee crisis without delay." Vella urges proactive, not reactive, approach to Mediterranean security A proactive, not reactive, approach to security in the Mediterranean is crucial at a time when there was so much at stake, Foreign Af- fairs Minister George Vella told a conference on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Helsinki Final Act, yes- terday. Vella said that the conference was aimed at building on past discussions about the relevance of the act to the present day. The act, which turned 40 yes- terday, formed the basis of the OSCE, and it was formed by the then Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in response to the Cold War, and this conference was aimed at forming proposals to take similar steps in dealing with the migra- tion crisis. The act had stated that secu- rity in Europe is to be consid- ered within the broader context of world security and is closely linked with security in the Medi- terranean area as a whole. "The threats we face now are different from those present when the Helsinki Final Act was drawn up, and it needs to be adapted to fit the current situation," he said, stressing that participants and stakeholders had the responsibil- ity to look for ways to improve operations in the region. He added that Malta had felt the need to be a catalyst in promot- ing peace in the Mediterranean. "Today's unprecedented close- ness, as well as other threats like radicalisation, point to the need for a deeper focus on the Medi- terranean area in the work of the OSCE," he said. He added that Malta was at the forefront in proposing a sum- mit geared towards targetting the root causes of migration and in battling smugglers and traf- fickers on migration routes and looked forward to the discussions to be held during the upcoming Valletta summit.