Risking their lives to reach Europe from North Africa, a boatload of people, some of them likely in need of international protection, are rescued in the Mediterranean Sea by the Italian Navy. Photo: UNHCR/A. D’Amato
Amid
record high numbers of global migrant arrivals by sea, the
international community is steadily losing focus on saving lives and
intensifying its efforts to deny foreigners access to asylum, the United
Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned ahead of a Geneva-based forum devoted to protecting sea-bound migrants.
“This
is a mistake, and precisely the wrong reaction for an era in which
record numbers of people are fleeing wars,” António Guterres, the UN’s
High Commissioner for Refugees, said today in a press release.
“Security and immigration management are concerns for any country, but
policies must be designed in a way that human lives do not end up
becoming collateral damage.”
According
to estimates from coastal authorities and data points collected by the
UN, at least 348,000 people have risked seafaring journeys worldwide
since the beginning of 2014 as they flee conflicts and poverty. Europe,
facing conflicts to its south in Libya, east in Ukraine, and southeast
in Syria and Iraq, is currently seeing the largest number of sea
arrivals with 207,000 people crossing the Mediterranean to reach its
shores – almost three times the previous known high of about 70,000,
registered in 2011.
However,
the UN agency noted, there are at least three other major sea routes in
use today both by migrants seeking better economic opportunities and
asylum seekers escaping conflict. In the Horn of Africa, some 82,000
people crossed the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea between 1 January and the
end of November, leaving Ethiopia and Somalia for countries in the
Arabian Peninsula. In Southeast Asia, meanwhile, an estimated 54,000
people have undertaken sea crossings, departing Bangladesh or Myanmar
and heading to Thailand, Malaysia, or Indonesia. And, in the Caribbean,
2014 has seen almost 5,000 people take to boats as they escape the
clutches of poverty and explore asylum options in the neighbouring
countries.
In
addition to the difficulties of these journeys which often stretch
across multiple borders and over thousands of kilometres, many of those
migrating along these maritime corridors succumb to trafficking and
smuggling networks coordinated by international organized crime. As the
flow of migrants continues to swell, the UN said, many governments were
finding themselves “unable to either stem the flow or stop people dying
along the journey.”
“You
can’t stop a person who is fleeing for their life by deterrence,
without escalating the dangers even more,” Mr. Guterres continued. “The
real causes have to be addressed, and this means looking at why people
are fleeing, what prevents them from seeking asylum by safer means, and
what can be done to crack down on the criminal networks who prosper from
this, while at the same time protecting their victims.”
“It also means having proper systems to deal with arrivals and distinguish real refugees from those who are note,” he said.
Mr.
Guterres’ words come as UN officials from its humanitarian and human
rights agencies prepare to gather at UNHCR’s 2014 High Commissioner’s
Dialogue in Geneva – an informal policy discussion forum whose focus
this year is “Protection at Sea.”
UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who was also
in attendance at the UNHCR event, similarly cautioned that as wealthy
nations continue to guard themselves from migrant arrivals and asylum
seekers, they also risk transforming into xenophobic “gated
communities.”
“Unilateral
attempts to close borders are almost certainly futile, and the response
cannot just lie in aggressive, and often counterproductive,
anti-smuggling plans,” affirmed Mr. Zeid in a press release.
“When
migrants are left to drift for weeks without access to food and water;
when ships deliberately refuse to rescue migrants in distress; when
children in search of family reunification are detained indefinitely,
denied education and care, or returned to perilous situations – these
are grave human rights violations.”
The
UN rights chief pointed out that policies that seek to “stamp out
migration” do not decrease the numbers of would-be migrants but,
instead, “exacerbate the dangers they endure” creating zones of
lawlessness and impunity. As a result, he continued, nations were
encouraged to establish accessible corridors for legal migration and
discourage the current “siege mentality” fanned by a growing number of
populist politicians and leaders.
“Ultimately,
unless they can access safe and regular migration channels, desperate
people may continue to brave the perils of the sea in search of
protection, opportunity and hope. In their place, we would probably do
the same. And perhaps only this recognition of our common humanity can
guide us to make the right choices in response,” he concluded.
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