In the light of the tragedy in which, so far, more than 111 African migrants have died and many more are missing, after a boat caught fire and sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean once more expresses its concern on the loss of life that is again repeating itself in the Mediterranean Sea and tainting the collective credibility of the international community.
A historic venue for migration, the Mediterranean remains today an important theater for all sorts of movements of people. In recent years it has experienced a substantial growth in numbers and diversity of flows, not least due to the crises in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria. These include economic migrants, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, pregnant women, victims of trafficking, and other categories.
PAM insists that migrants be treated humanely, not only within applicable international and national laws, but primarily out of a sense of compassion and human responsibility. People in distress at sea, for whichever reason they end up in this condition, cannot but be assisted and their life secured against any possible threat.
While there is much positive cooperation in the region and at the international level, which goes largely unnoticed, there still remains an issue at the source of the migration phenomenon, which mainly involves the countries of origin and transit, and trafficking of human beings by local and trans-national organised crime. Yesterday, this was stressed, over and over, by PAM and other delegates attending the UN High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in New York.
The region and the people that the PAM member parliaments represent, can also greatly benefit from improved multilateral and international cooperation on migration – for the development of societies, economies and a comprehensive legal framework. A more focused rights-based approach by the international community, including in particular the Global Migration Consultancy (GMG) and its participating organizations, will certainly help parliamentarians to be better prepared to deal with migration issues.
While some of these aspects might change, one thing is certain: they will definitely not disappear in the foreseeable future, unless democratic institutions, development, access to education, a fair distribution of resources, respect of fundamental human rights, political and social stability, do not also reach these populations.