6
Juli
2023

Preventing and responding to deaths at sea: what the European Union can do

Following yet another recent tragic shipwreck and loss of life in the Mediterranean, this short report sets out examples of actions the EU could take to meet its obligations to protect the right to life and prevent more deaths at sea. As part of the work that the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) does on upholding fundamental rights in asylum and return procedures, this report calls for better protection for shipwreck survivors, and prompt and independent investigations. It sets out measures that EU Member States should take to improve search and rescue efforts and provide legal pathways to safety to prevent deaths at sea.

Some argue that the most effective way to prevent tragedies at sea is to avoid migrants and refugees taking to the sea on unseaworthy vessels. From this perspective, the solution lies in combatting migrant smugglers and helping coastal states of departure.

There are some existing cooperation efforts to address migrant smuggling. Under Article 7 of the Protocol against Smuggling of Migrants to the UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime, State Parties have a duty to cooperate to prevent and suppress the smuggling of migrants by sea. Such cooperation must respect international law, including human rights, humanitarian and refugee law (Article 19). [74]
See also UNODC, International Framework for Action to Implement the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol, Vienna, January 2011, p. 117.
However, FRA has identified fundamental rights risks in border management cooperation with third countries and has suggested mitigating measures. [75]
See in this context also FRA (2016),Scope of the principle of non-refoulement in contemporary border management: evolving areas of law, 5 December 2016.

Experiences from the other ‘boat people’ situations listed in the introduction of this paper suggest that a purely law enforcement or repressive approach is not likely to succeed in reducing dangerous departures. In the Mediterranean, dangerous crossings continue, despite all actions taken in recent years to combat migrant smuggling in the third countries of departure, including with the support of the EU and its Member States. [76]
For an overview of activities, see European Commission (2021), Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: A renewed EU action plan against migrant smuggling (2021-2025), COM(2021)591 final, Brussels, 29 September 2021.

Other action is needed. The people that embark on perilous journeys across the Mediterranean have little options to travel lawfully. To escape war, persecution or poverty or to pursue a dream, they are ready to risk their lives and cross to the EU by sea with the help of migrant smugglers.

Safe and legal pathways to Europe would save lives and reduce the desperate need for migrants and refugees to resort to smugglers to get to Europe.

FRA has published a report presenting a toolbox of possible schemes EU Member States could use to enable more people in need of international protection to reach the EU without resorting to migrant smugglers. The report, published in 2015, presents different refugee-specific schemes including resettlement, humanitarian admissions, the issuance of humanitarian visas, the lifting of visa requirements and temporary protection. It also covers regular mobility schemes, such as those available to family members of persons residing in the EU, students, migrant workers and other categories of persons, which could be made more accessible to refugees staying in third countries. [77]
FRA (2015), Legal entry channels to the EU for persons in need of international protection: a toolbox, 6 March 2015.

Eight years later, the actual possibilities for people in need of protection to legally enter and stay in an EU Member State remain very limited. In 2022, the EU accepted some 17,300 refugees for resettlement only, some 1,000 less than in 2021. [78]
Eurostat, MIGR_ASYRESA, data extracted on 23 June 2023. See also UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR's Recommendations for the Swedish and Spanish Presidencies of the Council of the European Union (EU), January 2023, pp. 16-18.
Getting a visa for the EU is difficult for people who want to flee war or persecution. [79]
See in this context also FRA (2023), Protecting human rights defenders at risk: EU entry, stay and support, 2023 – forthcoming.
At the same time, refugee protection in the countries from where people depart from by sea has, overall, not improved, at least not to a degree that would discourage attempts to move to Europe. [80] See UNHCR, Protection, saving lives & solutions for refugees in dangerous journeys, Routes towards the Central & West Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic, UNHCR’s 2022-2023 Updated Risk Mitigation Strategy and 2022 Appeal.

There are, however, promising examples of legal pathways for refugees to reach Europe. They offer alternatives to risking one’s life at sea. Under theHumanitarian Corridors initiative – a programme supported by the Episcopal Conference and other Catholic-inspired organizations – more than 6000 people have safely reached Italy since February 2016. This is a safe and legal programme of transfer and integration in Europe of vulnerable people, such as children, older persons and people with disabilities fleeing the war in Syria and conflicts in the Horn of Africa. [81]
See the Community of Sant'Egidio webpage for more information on Humanitarian Corridors.
Moreover, the experience of those fleeing the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, most of whom were allowed to cross into the EU without major difficulties, even when they did not fulfil all requirements to cross the border, [82]
See FRA (2023), Asylum and migration: Progress achieved and remaining challenges, 30 May 2023; p. 9; see also FRA (2023), Fleeing Ukraine: Displaced people’s experiences in the EU, chapter 1; and FRA (2023), Fundamental Rights Report 2023, focus chapter, 8 June 2023.
shows that orderly entry is possible.

EU Member States can draw inspiration from such good practices and should offer more possibilities for legal pathways to persons in need of international protection. Examples include increasing resettlement places and promoting other humanitarian admission programmes. Such programmes could be given priority when allocating EU funding.

There are some notable initiatives which could offer opportunities for legal migration to the EU. Many people embark on a perilous journey in the hope to find work in the EU and be able to support themselves and their families. [83]
See UNODC (2018), Global Study on Smuggling of Migrants, New York, 2018, factors determining the demand for smuggling, p. 6; ILO (2021), Protecting the rights of migrant workers in irregular situations and addressing irregular labour migration: A compendium, 2021, pp. 6-7.
More labour migration opportunities to the EU with less expensive and cumbersome procedures through agreements with third countries could offer a legal and safe alternative.

This would help decrease undeclared work, in the EU which – as FRA pointed out – creates heightened risk for labour exploitation. [84]
FRA (2015), Severe labour exploitation: workers moving within or into the European Union, 2 June 2015, Chapter 2; FRA (2018), Out of sight: migrant women exploited in domestic work, 15 June 2018.
EU Member States face significant labour shortages which they cannot fill with the labour force available in the EU. [85]
On labour shortages and how to tackle these see, European Labour Authority (2023), EURES, Report on labour shortages and surpluses in 2022, Luxembourg, Publication Office of the EU; Eurofound (2021), Employment and labour markets, Tackling labour shortages in EU Member States, Luxembourg, Publications Office of the EU, 20 July 2021.

The EU identified the need to attract people from third countries with the labour skills needed in Member States when announcing the European Year of Skills from May 2023 to May 2024. [86]
Decision (EU) 2023/936 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on a European Year of Skills (Text with EEA relevance), OJ L 125, 11 May 2023, pp. 1–11, Art. 2, point 4.
In 2023, the European Commission intends to present a legislative proposal on a “Talent Pool”. [87]
For more information, see the European Commission webpage on the EU Talent Pool .
It will support a better matching of skills, talents and needs of the EU.

The European Commission is also developing “Talent Partnerships” with third countries to address the labour market and skills needs of Member States and partner countries. [88]
European Commission (2022), Communication – Attracting skills and talent to the EU, COM(2022) 657 final, Brussels, 27 April 2022.
The European Commission announced that the Talent Partnerships will be open to all skill levels in various economic sectors, including agriculture, tourism and construction work. Priority countries listed by the Commission are Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, which are important as countries of departure and also represent a significant number of nationals embarking on dangerous journeys. [89]
Ibid, at 3.1. See also UNHCR, Operational data portal (on 26 May 2023, Egypt and Tunisia featured among the top ten nationalities).

The envisaged Talent Partnerships offer facilitated access to labour migration to the EU. When designing and implementing them, the EU and its Member States should consider how they can also best contribute to discourage people to risk their lives through dangerous sea crossing, if they plan to come to the EU to work. In this context, it is important that the Talent Partnerships cover all economic areas where there are labour shortages. It should also ensure labour mobility covers low-skilled labour and that labour mobility options offered are commensurate to the labour market shortages in the EU. It should be designed so that procedures and requirements to come to the EU to work are not overly cumbersome and expensive. Refugees and other persons in need of international protection should not be excluded from the Talent Partnerships.

The Talent Partnerships may be assessed on an ongoing basis. Giving priority to Mediterranean coastal countries would enable adjustments to be made to the Talent Partnerships to discourage dangerous irregular migration by sea.

Overall, there are promising examples of legal pathways for refugees and migrants to reach Europe which need to be expanded and become more accessible.