MEDITERRANEAN: UN Offers Condolences for Victims of Migrant Shipwrecks in Ionian Sea ― Cyprus Rejects “Buffer Zone Migrants” Amid Rising Tensions Between Republic and UN ― Hellenic Coast Guard Accused of Throwing Migrants Overboard to Their Deaths ― It…

• The International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have issued a joint statement in which they offered condolences for the victims of two recent migrant shipwrecks in the Ionian Sea.
• Cyprus’ continued refusal to accept the migrants who have been trapped in the buffer zone between the north and south of the island for more than a month is leading to increased tensions between the Cypriot government and the UN.
• A BBC investigative documentary that aired on 17 June has revealed allegations that the Hellenic Coast Guard threw migrants overboard to their deaths.
• The Italian cabinet has upheld a request from a group of NGOs to stop sending patrol boats to Tunisia.
• Redacted documents and minutes from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) have suggested that its internal system for flagging abuse against migrants is being actively undermined.

On 18 June, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a joint statement in which they offered condolences for the victims of two recent migrant shipwrecks in the Ionian Sea. The first shipwreck resulted in 10 confirmed deaths while 51 people were rescued by the search and rescue (SAR) NGO ResQship’s Nadir rescue vessel. The NGO Alarm Phone X posted about the incident: “We were alerted to a boat in distress, carrying about 60 people. Not EU authorities, but the small Nadir offered assistance. Unfortunately, they came too late for 10 people who died in the lower deck. EU borders continue to kill!”. The second shipwreck resulted in 15 deaths (14 bodies were found on 22 June), 50 missing people and just 11 survivors. Commenting on the incident, Shakilla Mohammadi from the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said: “entire families from Afghanistan are presumed dead. They left from Turkey eight days ago and had taken in water for three or four days. They told us they had no life vests and some vessels did not stop to help them”. In their joint statement, the three UN entities wrote: “if these figures were to be confirmed, the number of dead and missing in the Central Mediterranean would rise to over 800, an average of almost 5 dead and missing per day since the beginning of the year”. The International Committee of the Red Cross called the tragedies “another testament to Europe’s failing approach to migration and asylum which prioritizes walls and deterrence over humane welcome”.

Cyprus’ continued refusal to accept the migrants who have been trapped in the buffer zone between the north and south of the island for more than a month is leading to increased tensions between the Cypriot government and the UN. On 25 June, Cyprus’ Deputy Minister for Migration and International Protection Nicholas Ioannides declared that “the Republic will not accept migrants currently in the buffer zone”. “Our position is clear. We will not accept these people. We do not want the green line to become a passage for migrants,” he insisted. Ioannides also rejected all accusations of pushbacks and violations of international and EU Law. Minister for the Interior Constantinos Ioannou added: “I don’t understand why Cyprus is being accused by the UN (…) of trapping the migrants in the buffer zone” and “They need to have their papers in order (…) We are simply following Green Lines regulations”. The regulations to which Ioannou referred specify that migrants are only allowed to cross the line if they have a residence permit or valid travel documents. Ioannou confirmed that any trapped migrants who reached Cypriot territory would have their asylum applications processed. However, the UNHCR appeared to contradict his statement when it claimed that “five of them entered the Pournara reception centre to apply for asylum after crossing the buffer zone but were later removed from the centre by police and pushed back to the buffer zone”. While the Cypriot government and the UN have continued to debate the jurisdiction of the buffer zone and the pushbacks, others have suggested that it should not matter whether the migrants were in the buffer zone or in Cypriot territory. Assistant Professor in Transitional Justice and Human Rights at the University of Central Lancashire in Cyprus, Nasia Hadjigeorgiou, argued that international law provides an exception for asylum seekers so “the Green Line regulation is irrelevant here”.

A BBC investigative documentary that aired on 17 June has revealed allegations that the Hellenic Coast Guard threw migrants overboard to their deaths. According to witnesses who were interviewed by the BBC, nine migrants who were thrown into the sea were among more than 40 who are presumed dead after being forced out of Greek territorial waters or taken back out to sea after arriving on the Greek islands. A former coastguard officer who was interviewed for the documentary was recorded admitting in Greek to someone out of shot: “it’s very clear, isn’t it. It’s not nuclear physics. I don’t know why they did it in broad daylight (…). It’s obviously illegal. It’s an international crime”. The immigration policy chief of Greece’s main opposition political group declared: “we demand in-depth investigation, we demand answers, we demand accountability, and the reason we do it is this: We care about all human life, and we cannot get used to the loss of human life”. Human Rights Watch described the findings as a “particularly horrifying addition to mounting and credible allegations against the Greek authorities” and called for a full investigation “to serve justice to victims and to break the cycle of violence and impunity at Greece’s borders”. ECRE member organisation the Greek Council for Refugees stated that the pushbacks were a “de facto policy for Greece” and joined calls for the Greek government and the EU to initiate an investigation. On 20 June, EUobserver published details of an internal European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) document from April 2023 which found it ‘credible’, ‘likely’ and ‘plausible’ that the Hellenic Coast Guard was behind the drownings.

On 20 June, the Italian cabinet upheld a request from a group of NGOs to stop sending patrol boats to Tunisia. The Regional Administrative Court of Lazio had previously rejected an appeal by the group, which included ECRE member organisation the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI), against the allocation of € 4.8 million for refitting and transferring six patrol boats to the Tunisian coastguard. The NGOs contested the ruling and the Italian cabinet overturned the court’s decision. “The mass deportations, arbitrary arrests, and violence against migrants indicate that Tunisia cannot be considered a safe landing place. Similar to Libya, Tunisian authorities cannot be seen as partners in rescue operations,” explained Lorenzo Figoni from ActionAid Italy, one of the NGOs involved in the case. “This decision is crucial as it addresses the human rights of people on the move. The suspension of the patrol boat transfer allows the judiciary to assess the legitimacy of the act before any harmful effects can occur. In light of the documentation filed, we consider Tunisia an unsafe port,” concluded the president of the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, Laura Marmorale. The decision is even more significant given that “the recent surge in arrests and deportations of migrants is now accompanied by persecution of civil society actors who support them,” according to Filippo Miraglia from the Italian Recreative and Cultural Association (ARCI). Miraglia also observed that “Italian and European policies seem to mutually reinforce and justify each other, ignoring the alarms raised by the United Nations and international NGOs, which unanimously condemn the actions of the Tunisian authorities”.

Redacted documents and minutes from Frontex have suggested that its internal system for flagging abuse against migrants is being actively undermined. According to a November 2023 report prepared for the management board by the agency’s fundamental rights officer, Jonas Grimheden: ‘Fear of repercussions seems to remain an important reason for underreporting potential cases of fundamental rights violations. Over 80 serious incident reports on “collective expulsions” were launched between January 2022 and October 2023 in Greece, Bulgaria and Albania. Grimheden also told the management board that “Delays and not sharing sufficient information remains the norm among national authorities replies to enquires in the context of Serious Incident investigations”.

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