It's official: EU formally abdicates any semblance of responsibility for rescue in the Med. The anti-smuggling mission Operation #Sophia will continue but without boats in the water. Though adamantly not its mandate, Op #Sophia vessels saved 10s 1000s of lives. Thread. 1/7
As @emmevilla notes, Operation #Sophia hadn’t rescued anyone since July 2018. Why? By all accounts, because Italy, which commands the mission, made it clear they would refuse disembarkation in Italian ports. 2/7
In January, Germany said it would pull its ship out of Operation #Sophia, with defense minister von der Leyen saying Italy sent the ship to areas of the Med where there were “no smuggling routes whatsoever” and “no refugee routes.” 3/7 dw.com/en/germany-pul…
Operation #Sophia will now only provide aerial surveillance and support for the Libyan Coast Guard. That means more interceptions by Libyan forces and return of women, men, and children to nightmarish conditions and treatment in Libya 4/7 hrw.org/news/2019/01/2…
EU governments have scuttled not only Op #Sophia, but European rescue capacity in the Med broadly. Frontex no longer patrols anywhere near int'l waters off the Libyan coast. Most rescue NGOs are stuck in ports and courts as Italy, Spain, Malta and others block their efforts 5/7
Pronouncements about the importance of saving lives at sea, the right to asylum & European values are absolutely meaningless if Europe isn’t willing to take and share responsibility for disembarking rescued people in safe places in Europe. 6/7 hrw.org/sites/default/…
Whatever you thought about Operation #Sophia, this development illustrates starkly the willingness of EU governments to do anything to avoid responsibility for refugees and migrants, and their readiness to condemn women, men and children to abuse in Libya 7/7
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