Drive the migrant ships to the coast. The new tactics of migrants (Maj3)

(BRUSSELS2) The 450 migrants (approximately) who were on board the merchant ship Ezadeen, flying the flag of Sierra Leone, were rescued. Their crew abandoned ship, jamming the controls and revving the engines, heading for land. The ship had been located 80 miles from Crotone in southern Italy in the afternoon by the Italian Coast Guard coordination center in Rome.

Intervention of the Icelandic Frontex patrol boat and the Italian coastguards

The Icelandic patrol boat, Týr (*), which is taking part in the European operation Triton, to fight against illegal immigration, carried out under the direction of the Frontex agency, was triggered and succeeded in intercepting the ship during a search and rescue (SAR) operation. " The weather conditions were very difficult, with rough seas and a wind of 40 knots. » said the Icelandic Coast Guard. four men of the ship Icelanders were, however, able to board the merchant vessel " then joined by 6 Italians de the coast guard Italian, airlifted onto the ship. The crew had effectively left the ship. Water and food were distributed to the passengers and care given to the wounded.. The Ezadeen was taken under tow (see top photo). But, with bad weather, it had to be diverted from Crotone to the port of Corigliano (Calabria), where they will arrive around midnight,” the Italian coast guard announced on Friday (January 2) morning. NB: Finally, they arrived a little earlier in the evening.

A story similar to that of the Blue Sky M

This new incident recalls in all respects what had happened at the Blue Sky M, a Moldavian freighter, apparently of goods, transformed into a transport of illegal immigrants (mainly Syrians and Kurds) which had left its natural trajectory towards Rijeka, off the coast of Albania, after the crew had put the automatic pilot in the direction of the Italian coast. The boat had indeed been inspected first by the Greeks - off Corfu - but without discovering any anomalies, in particular illegal immigrants. He was eventually picked up by the Italian Navy and brought back to the port of Gallipoli. Coastguards boarded. The local Red Cross took care of around 800 passengers: 796 migrants were on board, according to the Italian coastguard corps. 4 dead were also noted.

A change of tactics?

The migrant smugglers had already borrowed a tactic from the Somali pirates, those of mother ships towing boats loaded with migrants, then dropped off the Somali coast and drifting towards the coast (read: The Somali technique for immigrants?). They now use another more sophisticated tactic, borrowed from suicide boats, forcing the navies of nearby countries to intervene quickly, to avoid a shipwreck on the coast. In both scenarios, the objective is the same: to have the migrants taken care of by the European countries, by putting the lives of the migrants in the hands of the coast guards of the countries concerned, without taking any personal risk for the smugglers.

Europe: eyes closed?

These tactics illustrate a major shortcoming of the European border control system: not taking the search for smugglers seriously. According to European Commission officials, there are no plans for coordinated search operations against smugglers in international waters, as was done for pirates off the coast of Somalia. Even if we can consider smugglers as criminals because they directly endanger the lives of many people, the conditions do not " cannot be compared says the European Commission. This vision, which is quite passive, actually encourages smugglers to use the various possible tactics, including the most cynical, allowing them to continue their trafficking in human beings... It lacks a singular audacity both to protect European coasts and save migrants. It also runs counter to all the resolutions taken to better link internal and external security actions.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(UPDATE) January 2, with the name of the ship + details of the taking over of the ship by the Icelandic and Italian coast guards + new photo and reaction commissioner Avramopoulos

(*) Although not a member of the European Union, Iceland is participating in the operations of the European border control agency Frontex, for the sixth consecutive year. The Tire is thus in the zone “ since December 1 and has participated in 4 rescue operations, with nearly 2000 people rescued”, announces the Icelandic Coast Guard HQ.