The fall of the Gaddafi Regime in Libya in 2011 plunged the country into a state of virtual anarchy. One of the effects of this disastrous development was a rapid increase in the number of irregular migrants (IM), mostly originating from Syria, Somalia and Ethiopia, entering Libya, and then attempting, with the assistance of criminal groups, to reach Europe by sea.
In response, Rome in 2013 set up Operation Mare Nostrum, which involved Italian paramilitary vessels and warships deploying to international waters, intercepting incoming IM boatloads, and bringing them ashore. Many of the IMs were subsequently held in reception centres in Italy and Malta.
Immigration from both within, and outside, Europe, though, is a hot topic across the EU's political spectrum, with the highly visible influx of destitute IMs from Africa being a particularly sensitive issue. There was fierce criticism from some EU politicians that the operation had itself encouraged North African organised crime to cash in on irregular migration on a vast scale. It is, therefore, not surprising that Brussels declined to meet Italy's requests for funding to continue Mare Nostrum, and in October 2014 the operation was shut down, having "rescued" some 140,000 IMs.
Photo: Marinaio 56
In place of Mare Nostrum, a small multi-national "border control and surveillance" operation dubbed Triton was set up, only covering waters within 30 nautical miles of the Italian coast. Operation Triton appears to have been singularly ineffective, and by early this year the Italian Guardia Costiera (Coast Guard), backed up by ships of the Guardia Finanza (Customs Service), the Italian Navy and the Armed Forces of Malta was again heavily engaged in intercepting IM boats. About 12,000 IMs had reportedly been rescued from overcrowded boats by mid-April 2015.
Also, with the situation in Libya continuing to deteriorate, Rome has recently dispatched a naval task group, including a landing platform (helicopter), to conduct surveillance and intelligence gathering operations off the North African coast.
Tactics reportedly being used by the Libya-based criminal syndicates running this racket include the employment of mother ships, from which IMs are decanted into small craft near the Italian-governed governed island of Lampedusa off North Africa, with the Italian authorities having been forewarned by the syndicates of their arrival a few hours beforehand.
Also, large groups of IMs have sometimes been crammed into very big, probably custom-built, RIBs, and have been found locked into the holds of decrepit fishing vessels.
Some IM groups might have deliberately sunk their craft on sighting potential rescue vessels.
There have been numerous reports of mass drownings, but confirmation of these remains elusive. Analysis of plausible reporting, though, indicates that probably at least 2,000 IMs have perished at sea over the past two years. Bearing the brunt of the gruelling interception and rescue work are the Luigi Dattilo and Saettia class patrol ships of the Italian Coast Guard, assisted by vessels of the Armed Forces of Malta, and frigates and Merlin helicopters of the Italian Navy.
The EU and its constituent national governments remain subject to huge political pressures, from the left and the right, over immigration, and there is no answer to this problem in sight. According to some reports, Brussels last year looked at initiating an Australian-style solution, by paying some third party nations, in this case African countries, to house the rescued IMs while asylum applications are dealt with, and is again giving serious consideration to such a move.
Meanwhile, the pace of humanitarian operations off the Italian coast continues to quicken, with the search and rescue assets regularly executing search patterns, and from time to time responding to intelligence reports of incoming IM boats.
Trevor Hollingsbee
