scholarly journals Irregular Migration on the Central Mediterranean: A Critical Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 638-649
Author(s):  
Patrick Agyare
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Irregular Migrants ◽  
True Number ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Set Up ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
Institutional Challenges ◽  
The Eu

This paper examines the human rights situation of irregular migrants on the Central Mediterranean. For this, it investigates the content and nature of the challenges involved in this migratory phenomenon. The studies conducted on this theme led to the existence of political, legal, and institutional challenges related to the protection of fundamental rights of irregular migrants who undertake unsafe crossing of the Mediterranean to the EU. In this context, it seemed useful to question the capacity of existing norms to grasp the nuances of a constantly changing reality that puts pressure on individuals, states, and international organizations set up to protect them. It further highlights worrying trends of shipwrecks, with over one thousand deaths recorded in the first seven months of 2021, a number that could well underestimate the true number of fatal accidents. At the same time, the security of Europe’s Southern Borders must be respected in the face of unauthorized crossing of the Mediterranean. However, the obstacle to the rescue activities of NGOs, as well as decisions that delay the disembarkation of migrants rescued at sea, does not guarantee the minimum reverence for fundamental rights. This paper aims, therefore, to highlight the dangers inherent in unsafe practices of trafficking or transport of irregular migrants by sea. It further draws attention to both state and non-state actors to respect the fundamental rights of irregular migrants and to save lives at sea. Conversely, the fragmentation of international instruments amid the absence of a sovereign enforcing body can be seen as a limitation constraining the effectiveness of the fundamental rights of the migrants.

Case Report on Kadzoev, 30 November 2009

2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elitsa Mincheva
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Preliminary Ruling ◽  
Irregular Migrants ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Broad Interpretation ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe detention periods authorized by Directive 2008/115 sparked significant criticism both within and without the EU. In its preliminary ruling of 30 November 2009, the Court of Justice countered concerns that a further erosion of the fundamental rights of irregular migrants might occur due to a broad interpretation of the directive by national courts.

EU Med mission impact would increase with UN backing

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Southern Central ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Eu

Subject The EU's new naval operation against Mediterranean people-smuggling, EUNAVFOR MED. Significance The EU's new naval operation against Mediterranean people-smuggling, EUNAVFOR MED, is a central element in the bloc's response to the Mediterranean migrant crisis. The mission will target smugglers in the southern central Mediterranean, aiming to disrupt their business model in order to reduce trafficking and thus the migrant pressures on the EU. Impacts Confidence in the mission around the EU is strong, because it builds on the success of the bloc's anti-piracy mission off Somalia. The mission's dependence on a political accommodation in Libya is intensifying international diplomatic efforts directed towards that end. The mission is likely to be prolonged beyond its initial year, as it is unlikely clearly to succeed or fail in that time.

scholarly journals EU Search and Rescue Activities in the Mediterranean

European View ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Lena Düpont
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
International Law ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Legal Obligation ◽  
Migration Routes ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Eu

This article focuses on the EU’s search and rescue activities in the Mediterranean, the location of some of the world’s deadliest migration routes. It argues that saving lives at sea is not an act of grace, nor of simple solidarity with those at risk. Rather, it is first and foremost a legal obligation under international law. Understanding this fact is essential when engaging in the underlying and frequently misleading debate on our humanitarian obligation to render assistance to people in distress at sea. The article also makes the point that the EU must clearly distinguish between economic migrants and refugees in need of humanitarian protection, and prioritise dedicating its resources to those genuinely in need of safeguarding. Legal pathways and humanitarian corridors can only be set up for refugees.

The Road not Taken: The European Union as a Global Human Rights Actor

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gráinne de Búrca
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
The Eu

For many, the enactment of the European Union’s Treaty of Lisbon, with its range of significant human rights provisions, marks the EU’s coming of age as a human rights actor. The Lisbon Treaty inaugurated the legally binding character of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU Charter), enshrined a commitment to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and, in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), identified human rights as a foundational value. These changes have already drawn comment as developments that “will change the face of the Union fundamentally,” that take the protection of rights in the EU “to a new level,” and that indicate that “the arguments for improving the status of human rights in EU law… have finally been heard. There is general agreement, in other words, that the EU has reached the high point of its engagement with human rights.

scholarly journals True EU citizenship as a precursor to genuine criminal justice in Europe: an analysis of EU citizenship as it relates to a sustainable area of freedom, security and justice

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-344
Author(s):  
Marianne L. Wade
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Current Form ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Eu

Abstract This paper traces developments - both legal and political in nature - relating to EU citizenship and compares the status quo to what individuals might expect from citizenship particularly within the context of criminal proceedings. Drawing upon debates in political science, it highlights the divergence between EU citizenship and what would normally be associated with any idea of citizenship. Exploring the parameters of European criminal justice and its revolutionary direction of travel, this essay highlights how strongly exposed EU citizens are to enhanced coercive state power within criminal proceedings because of this status. Consequently it advances an argument that reasonable expectations of citizenship are set up to be disappointed in the current context. This is particularly true as the CJEU scales back the protections associated with EU citizenship in the face of political pressure. It argues that the loss of legitimacy the EU may suffer as a result affects not only its relationship to citizens. As the European institutions take action against democratically elected governments viewed as in breach of fundamental EU values, its potential as a policy-laundering governance level in the criminal justice arena is identified as an enormous legitimacy problem. Analysing developments relevant to citizenship from a criminal justice perspective, this paper demonstrates that reform is urgently required. Leaving EU citizenship in its current form - shaped by Executive powers - is argued to expose the EU to legitimacy arguments it cannot win, as well as individual citizens to injustice in criminal proceedings.

scholarly journals Coronavirus Test of the European Union’s Policy on the Rule of Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-33
Author(s):  
Ákos Bence Gát
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Eu

The issue of the rule of law has been on the European Union’s (EU) agenda since the beginning of the 2010s. The legal history of the EU shows that the EU’s approach to the topic of the rule of law underwent significant changes. Initially, the Member States called for guarantees of fundamental rights in EU institutions. This trend began to change in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the possibility of European rule of law control over Member States and the predecessor of the current Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) were introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam. However, the idea that the EU institutions can constantly monitor the Member States in the name of the rule of law has only emerged and started dominating the European political agenda since the early 2010s. Over the last decade, the EU institutions have continuously expanded their toolkit for monitoring Member States in this regard.Following calls from some Member States and the European Parliament, in 2014 the Commission set up the new EU framework to strengthen the rule of law. In the same year, the European Council introduced an annual rule of law dialogue. In 2016, the European Parliament proposed the establishment of an annual rule of law report that monitors all Member States. At first, the European Commission was reluctant to accept this idea, but finally it introduced an annual rule of law report in 2020. However, the EU’s policy on the rule of law suffers from fundamental shortcomings, which were especially visible during the first wave of the coronavirus crisis in the spring of 2020. In the pandemic situation, it has become even more apparent that the EU’s policy on the rule of law raises a significant issue of EU institutions exceeding their competences and stands on a questionable legal basis.Criticisms formulated against Hungary during the pandemic have revealed that the EU institutions do not provide sufficient guarantees for an objective examination of the situation of the rule of law in the Member States. The situation brought about by the coronavirus has also raised a number of questions regarding the lawful functioning of EU institutions, which shows the need for a rule of law mechanism capable of verifying that the EU institutions themselves also properly respect the rule of law.

scholarly journals Development and catch efficiency of an attracting device to collect and monitor the invasive fireworm Hermodice carunculata in the Mediterranean Sea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERTO SIMONINI ◽  
SARA RIGHI ◽  
FEDERICA ZANETTI ◽  
SERGIO FAI ◽  
DANIELA PREVEDELLI
Keyword(s):  
Science Studies ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
User Friendliness ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Hermodice Carunculata ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Abundance And Distribution ◽  
Test User

The fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida) is emerging as a native invader and a neonative species in the Central Mediterranean basins. Its ongoing areal expansion has probably been triggered and pursued by the climate alterations which are affecting the Mediterranean environments and biota. However, increased H. carunculata abundance and distribution may be miscalculated and underestimated due to the lack of effective tools for collection and monitoring. Indeed, fireworms spend most of the daytime in crevices and holes, making it impossible to obtain reliable data in underwater surveys.In this study, traps were developed to provide suitable shelter and food to fireworms, and their effectiveness and specificity were assessed by testing different immersion times, environmental conditions and types of bait. Pierced plastic baskets adapted for fireworm capture proved to be extremely easy to set up, reproducible, cheap, and highly specific. The devices were used in 11 sites located along the Ionian Apulian coast (Italy). They resulted suitable and effective: more than 90% of the traps baited with raw fish succeeded in capturing H. carunculata specimens, with an average of 8-9 fireworms captured per trap. The traps were deployed in a depth range of 1.5-9 m with immersion times of up to 4 h, and even large sized fireworms (> 32 cm in length) were caught. These attracting devices could be successful in different forthcoming challenges, allowing the collection of a great number of fireworms to investigate their impact on rocky bottom communities, distribution and potential for bioprospecting. Besides, the cheapness and ease of use of the traps also make them suitable for Citizen Science studies and sampling campaigns aiming at characterizing the expanding populations. Future applications will be critical to improve deployment success and test user friendliness.

Migration to EU will be divisive despite lower numbers

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Irregular Migrants ◽  
The Eu

Significance The Central Mediterranean route, used by half of all irregular migrants to the EU in 2016, now accounts for only 9% of irregular travel to the EU. Meanwhile, the pace of arrivals via the Eastern Mediterranean (overland and by sea) surged in mid-2019, making Greece the first point of EU entry, with 59% of arrivals. Impacts The EU is in early-stage efforts to end detention centres in Libya because of the backlash over human-rights abuses. More arrivals at Malta and Cyprus are indicative of the adaptability of people smugglers. The EU will struggle to address deep divides among member states about reform of the asylum system.

Countries will want EU solution to migration

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Coast Guard ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Border Controls ◽  
The Eu

Subject Europe's immigration challenge. Significance On March 27 EU leaders agreed to extend Operation Sophia, the mission aimed at curtailing smuggling in the Mediterranean Sea, by six months. Under revised terms, the EU mission will no longer deploy naval assets, but will continue to deploy aerial assets and train Libya’s coast guard to strengthen that country’s border controls. The compromise to abandon naval assets is aimed at appeasing Italy, which opposes the mission as the vast majority of migrants rescued in the Central Mediterranean are brought to Italian ports. Impacts Divergence over immigration could prevent Europe’s far-right parties from forming a stable alliance in the European Parliament. The number of migrants forcibly returned to Libya will likely increase. Humanitarian NGO ships will continue to operate in the Central Mediterranean, but could face criminalisation from Italy.

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