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The lack of human rights protection for migrants along the central Mediterranean route to Europe is partly due to EU policy, a report published Wednesday by the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner has found.
The lack of human rights protection for migrants crossing the central Mediterranean “is not a tragic anomaly,” the report, entitled “Lethal Disregard” reads, “but rather a consequence of concrete policy decisions and practices by the Libyan authorities, the European Union (EU) Member States and institutions, and other actors.”
632 people have died on the central Mediterraniean route so far in 2021, the report says.
UN researchers found five key human rights challenges faced by migrants attempting to reach Europe by transiting through Libya and then crossing the sea: a failure to promptly aid migrants in distress, dangerous rescue or interception practices, pushbacks at sea, attempts to stop search and rescue missions and a failure to adequately receive migrants once they have arrived.
The report calls on the EU to “ensure that all agreements or measures of cooperation on migration governance with Libya are consistent with Member States’ obligations under international law, including international human rights law.”
Echoing rescue ship workers’ calls for Brussels and European capitals to step decisively in, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged “EU Member States to show solidarity to ensure that frontline countries, such as Malta and Italy, are not left to shoulder a disproportionate responsibility.”
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