Fewer migrant deaths after EU steps in

By Alice Philipson

Daily Telegraph UK·

12 Jul, 2015 05:00 PM3 mins to read

The number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean has risen, while the death toll has dropped. Picture / AP

Fewer than 100 migrants have lost their lives crossing the Mediterranean since the EU boosted its search and rescue operations at the end of April.

In comparison, 1200 people died in a single week in mid-April, before the arrival of extra naval resources to patrol the coast of Italy, Amnesty International said.

The human rights group said the "dramatic" fall in migrant deaths proved the value of Operation Triton, the search and rescue operation run by the EU border control agency Frontex.

One in 16 people attempting the crossing died in the first four months of 2015 before the emergency measures. This figure has fallen to one in 427 in the past two months.

At an emergency summit on April 23, the European Council agreed that it would triple the funding for operations in the Mediterranean. EU member states pledged to provide additional vessels and aircraft to help avoid further tragedies at sea. Since then, 99 people have died.

Britain has sent three ships, including HMS Bulwark, a 19,000-tonne assault ship, and three helicopters to the Mediterranean. In just one day in June, the Royal Navy assault ship rescued 1000 migrants off the coast of Libya. Germany has sent boats and France has committed a boat and plane for later in the year.

The decrease in fatalities has occurred despite more men, women and children attempting the crossing to Europe from Africa's northern coastline since the end of April.

Nearly 28,000 people attempted the crossing between January 1 and April 26, while more than 42,000 made the attempt between April 27 and June 29.

Gauri van Gulik, deputy director of Amnesty International Europe, said it was "obvious" that more resources for search and rescue operations has saved lives.

"Any scaling down of search-and-rescue operations would only lead to more deaths at sea," he said.

The boosting of resources for Frontex came just days after more than 700 people died when a smuggling boat capsized and sank off the Libyan coast. Many of the victims were locked in the hold at the time. Further migrant disasters took the total number of deaths to 1200 for that week. The search and rescue operation had been scaled down following the closure of Italy's Operation Mare Nostrum at the end of 2014.