500 refugees missing in the Mediterranean Sea

 

500 refugees missing in the Mediterranean Sea
Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Kostas Chrysogonos, Stelios Kouloglou, Kostadinka Kuneva,Barbara Spinelli, Curzio Maltese, Elonora Forenza

SYRIZA MEPs Kostadinka Kuneva, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Stelios Kouloglou and Kostas Chrysogonos along with Left-wing Italian MEPs Barbara Spinelli, Curzio Maltese and Elonora Forenza submitted a question to the European Commission regarding the recent tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea during which about 500 migrants went missing.

More precisely, according to media reports, there were 500 people in a boat whilst the 41 survivors (37 men, three women and a three-year-old child) were rescued by a merchant ship and taken to Kalamata (Greece) on April 16th.

The MEPs are claiming that this is one of the biggest human tragedies, not only in European but also in global scale.

SYRIZA and Left-wing Italian MEPs, citing the meeting of a delegation from the UN Refugee Agency with the shipwreck survivors, asked the European Commission if it is informed regarding this case and if so, for the action that plans to take in order to "press the countries possibly involved, in order to move on with the necessary search and rescue operations."

Also, the European Commission is asked "when and how does it (The European Commission) intend to secure safe and legal passage for refugees towards Europe and efficiently combat smugglers' networks". Finally the MEPs, citing information from the UNHCR, ask the European Commission "how does it intend to deal with the re-activation of the north-African route, which has seen an rise of 60% since last year".

Below the entire question:

On April 13, a delegation from the UN Refugee Agency met with survivors of an overcrowded boat that sank at an unknown location the Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Italy. According to media reports, there were 500 people in that boat. The 41 survivors (37 men, three women and a three-year-old child) were rescued by a merchant ship and taken to Kalamata on April 16.

So far, the Italian government has neither confirmed nor denied the event publicly. Should information prove right, this would be one of the biggest human tragedies, not only in European but also in global scale.

Therefore, the European Commission is asked:

1. Is it informed on this case? If so, has it pressed the countries possibly involved, to move on with the necessary search and rescue operations?
2. When and how the European Commission intends to secure safe and legal passage for refugees towards Europe and efficiently combat smugglers' networks?
3. How the European Commission intends to deal with the re-activation of the north-African route, which has seen an upsurge of 60% since last year according to UNHCR, after the closure of the Balkan corridor and the deal with Turkey?

 

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