European Commission
Malmström

I’ve just had a meeting with Amnesty International and several human rights organisations from Israel. They wanted to discuss the severe situation for migrants in the Sinai Peninsula. It is an issue that I brought up with various ministers in Cairo when I was there to visit last year, but since then the situation has gotten worse. It’s about migrants and refugees, mainly from Sudan and Eritrea, who try to get through the Sinai desert in search of asylum in Israel. Most people fall prey to smugglers who run a particuarly obnoxious game in Sinai, charging migrants for letting them through and then holding them hostage and demanding a ransom from them or their families. It involves quite a lot of money and many of the refugees testify about horrific torture, rape and various forms of degrading treatment. Obviously this can not continue. Israel and Egypt must cooperate in cracking down on this disgusting business.

And even for the refugees who do not fall into the hands of these violent smugglers, the situation is very difficult. They have no opportunity to seek asylum in Egypt. Asylum policy as such does not exist and the only possibility is to seek shelter with the UNHCR. There are several cases where the military has fired on the refugees.

The possibility of a legally secure asylum management in Israel is also very scarce. Sudanese and Eritreans get a temporary permit to stay in Israel, however, without going through any form of asylum procedure first, and without getting the right to medical care or to work. The new law, the Anti-infiltration Law, which was passed in February this year, makes it possible for the Israeli authorities to immediately detain anyone who illegally enters Israeli territory, often indefinitely, and in many cases for life. In addition, Israel is now building a long fence along the border between Israel and Egypt. It is important that, despite this, there will be possibilities for people to seek asylum in the country.

For over a year now I’ve been trying to get the Egyptians interested in a Mobility Partnership where we discuss migration, asylum, visa issues, etc. in a broad sense. We are now very close to achieving such an Partnership with Tunisia. From Egypt’s side, it has so far been turned down. We’ll see what happens after the presidential elections in June.

The EU summit held on Sunday on the debt crisis, is to be continued.  At this meeting of the EU’s leaders the atmosphere was constructive, but no decisions were taken.  Another summit, on Wednesday, will follow and hopefully there will be some concrete results.

During the weekend we witnessed celebrations across the globe, for example, in Tunisia on Sunday, where free elections were held.  Early reports suggest that turnout was high and that the atmosphere was calm.  It is fantastic to see proud Tunisians cast their first free ballots to vote for an assembly, who will write the new constitution.  Also, in Libya, people celebrated their freedom after 42 years of dictatorship.

I spoke on these, and on other issues today at a lecture at Gothenburg University, in Sweden.

Today I met with the Foreign Minister of Georgia to discuss visa related issues. In March this year we concluded a visa facilitation agreement with Georgia and so far it has been working well. We agreed to send a group of Commission experts to Tbilisi in March next year to evaluate the system and hopefully we will be able to proceed with the next steps in the process towards accomplishing full visa liberalisation between Georgia and the EU. Georgia is an important partner withing the Eastern Partnership.

I also met with the Tunisian minister of Home Affairs, on visit in Brussels today. We met earlier this year when I was in Tunisia and today we continued the discussions on how to continue our cooperation. The transition government in the country is now fully occupied with the preparations for the elections, which will be held the 23 of October. Political parties, as well as voters, are registering and the media is preparing for the first free elections. This will be an event followed closely from all around the world. Tunisia was the first country to lead the Arab Spring with the Jasmine Revolution and the development in the country can in several aspects serve as a model for other countries. We discussed the support Tunisia need in order to take care of the refugees at the Tunisian border and we also discussed visa facilitation and education of policemen, meeting the requirements of a police force in a democratic country.

I am following the developments in Libya with great interest. At the moment, it is not yet clear if Gaddafi, one of the cruelest dictators in the world, has been overthrown, but it does look like his days in power are numbered. Gaddafi and his government must now be held accountable for what he has done to his own people during the 42 years his terror regime has held on to the power. EU has assisted the Libyan people with humanitarian aid during the spring, you can read more about the assistance here. As with Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year, the EU also stands ready to assist Libya with it’s democratic transition. The road to democracy after Gaddafi will be long, but a democratic Libya would be a tremendous success, not only for the Libyan people, but for the whole region.

The debate in Strasbourg on migration flows continued for several hours on Monday night and focused mainly on the situation in Lampedusa and Malta and on solidarity.

The war in Libya is causing big migration flows, around 400 000 persons have now left the country. Most of them are guest workers from Tunisia and Egypt, but some are also third country nationals from up to 30 different countries. Egypt and Tunisia have done a heroic effort in taking care of these people. More than 100 000 have also been transported to their home countries with the help of the EU and Member States.

But there is still a small group of people, a few thousand, who cannot return to their home countries Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea. We must all take our humanitarian responsibility and give them protection in Europe.

In Lampedusa there are still Tunisians arriving. Sources tell us that they are mainly young unemployed men and Tunisian citizens. A few people from Libya have also arrived in Italy and Malta and asked for asylum.

Altogether there are about 2000 people that are in the need of international protection and have requested asylum in the EU, so far.

There is a lot of talk about activating the temporary protection directive. The directive was a response to the situation in Kosovo in the late 90s, but is has so far not been used. The directive can be used if there is a “mass influx of displaced persons from third countries who are unable to return to their country of origin”. They could then be granted temporary protection without individual assessments. To activate the directive the Commission must propose it and there must be a qualified majority of member states in favour of activating it.

At this point we cannot see a mass influx of migrants to Europe even though some of our member states are under severe pressure. The temporary mechanism is one tool that could be used in the future, if necessary, but we have not yet reached that situation.

The Ministers of Internal Affairs and Migration are meeting on Monday next week to discuss the short- and long-term cooperation with North Africa in the area of migration, and the migratory situation in Member States. The issue of solidarity between Member States will probably also be on the agenda.

More boats are coming to the shores of Lampedusa. But now they are not only carrying Tunisian migrants, but also refugees from Libya – mainly Somalis and Eritreans who have lived in Libya for a long time and now have nowhere to go. Yesterday, 500 refugees from Libya reached Malta. I’m in daily contact with Italy to see how we can assist them. Last year Italy got a sum of money from the European Refugee Fund and the Return Fund, and all of it has not yet been used. That money can now be used to deal with the situation in Lampedusa, and we have also additional support if that would be needed.

The humanitarian situation in Lampedusa is difficult and Italy needs to move people more quickly to the mainland. From the Commission side we are now pleading also to other Member States to take their responsibility and support Malta and Italy in taking some of the refugees arriving.

Tomorrow I am going to Tunisia together with my colleague Stefan Füle. We will discuss the current refugee situation and I hope that we can also touch upon how we can organise future cooperation on mobility, migration, visa issues, and border management. I will go to the refugee camps close to Djerba and then to Tunis to meet with ministers, UNHCR, International Organisation for Migration, NGOs, and representatives of political parties.

Today started with a long meeting with the LIBE committee in the European Parliament whom I debriefed of the state of play in the PNR negotiations with the US, Australia, and Canada, and where I presented the evaluation report of the EU-US agreement on the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP). The evaluation, which was carried out by representatives from data protection authorities, the Commission, and Eurojust, shows that the agreement on the whole works well and that the data protection mechanisms are in place. But the report also lists some recommendations of areas that need improvement. I think it is important that this report becomes public, so I put it online as soon as the LIBE committee had seen it. You can access it here, as well as the press release.

I also had a long telephone conversation with the Italian Minister of Interior Mr Roberto Maroni, about the situation on Lampedusa and in North Africa. Up until now, 11 200 people have reached Lampedusa’s shores from Tunisia, and as the weather improves the number of boats coming will probably increase. We are looking at how we can support Italy in this situation, and I will also discuss with Tunisian authorities how we can cooperate to make sure that those who are not in need of international protection can return home under safe and dignified conditions. So far no refugees from Libya have arrived in Europe, but we are of course preparing for all possible scenarios.

A good Commission college meeting today, where we discussed internal market reforms and evaluated the conclusions from the European Council last Friday. The situation in Libya is still dramatic, with people escaping from the violence and taking refuge in the neighbouring countries. We are following the developments by the hour, and both the Commission and Member States have contributed with practical and financial assistance to help people in the region. According to International Organisation for Migration we have so far helped 26 386 people who couldn’t leave Libya and its neighbouring countries to go back home to Bangladesh, Egypt, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Ghana, to mention a few countries. In the coming days flights are booked for 9 000 more. I am glad to see such a great proof of European solidarity with our North African friends in this difficult situation.

We are now looking at how we can extend our assistance and reach the people in need of international protection. Thousands of people in need of asylum are having problems leaving the Libyan neighbouring countries, and we are looking at whether EU Member States can take them in. Some countries have already offered to do so, and I hope that more will. Next week I will go to Tunisia with the Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs to talk to people on the ground and get a better understanding of the situation.

The humanitarian situation in Tunisia is still very serious. Member States are helping in different ways to evacuate people and assisting on the ground, and the Commission has allocated 30 million euro in humanitarian aid. At today’s college meeting, we adopted a strategy for North Africa, outlining measures for how the EU can support the democratic and economic transition in the short and long term. It was swiftly put together and will be transmitted to the EU heads of state and government, who will meet for an extraordinary summit in Brussels on Friday to discuss the situation.

We also adopted a climate roadmap, with regulations for how the EU will reduce CO2 emissions until 2050. Europe must set an example by leading the way in this important work, and I am glad that we adopted the roadmap unanimously today. At the same time I can’t help seeing the irony in adopting this in Strasbourg, to where my Commissioner colleagues, myself, and the whole European Parliament are commuting every month, causing 19.000 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.

Today is also the occasion of the 100th International Women’s Day, and there is much to celebrate. We have achieved a lot to increase gender equality in Europe during the last century, and not least during my own lifetime, but we still have a lot of inequalities to overcome. In my area, I am particularly glad that I got broad support for my proposal for a Directive combating human trafficking just before Christmas. This modern slave trade is broader than being a women’s issue, but at the same time the majority of trafficking victims are women or young girls being bought and sold for sexual exploitation. This day is also a day to shed light on them, and to emphasise the need for us to never give up the fight against this horrible crime.

As of yesterday the Frontex mission ‘Hermes’ is officially deployed to assist the Italian authorities in managing the inflow of migrants from Tunisia on the island of Lampedusa. The mission is being launched four days after receiving the official request from the Italian authorities. The mission is part of a broader framework of measures put in place, and includes support of border surveillance and experts to assist the Italian authorities in interviewing migrants. They have a special mission to identify those who may be in need of international protection. In other words, they are there to save lives.

Today the EU Foreign ministers met in Brussels to discuss, among other things, assistance to Tunisia as well as the current developments in Libya. Cathy Ashton sent a clear message yesterday that all violence in Libya must be stopped and that the demands of the people for reform must be addressed through open and meaningful dialogue. We are closely following the developments, and stand ready to support the democratic, social, and economic reforms needed in the region.