Triton is no substitute for life-saving Mare Nostrum - Amnesty International

Amnesty International has repeatedly raised the alarm that many lives will be lost in the Mediterranean Sea unless European Union (EU) member states step up to ensure a fully fledged, joint search and rescue operation. 

This comes on the eve of the launch of Frontex’s Operation Triton on 1 November - an operation that will define the fate of Italy’s Operation Mare Nostrum, and is set to steer the course for EU search and rescue commitments.

“No matter how it is dressed up, Triton is not a search and rescue operation,” said Nicolas J. Beger, director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.

“As the world faces the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War, the EU and its member states must urgently and collectively ensure robust search and rescue capabilities, to plug the imminent gap in these life saving operations”.

Since the launch of Mare Nostrum in October 2013, after shipwrecks in the Mediterranean claimed over 500 lives, Italy has almost single handedly saved the lives of more than 155,000 people who risked drowning in Europe’s seas.

But as people continue to flee conflict and persecution, taking to the sea in search of safety and sanctuary, the call for a collective EU response to a shared responsibility to save lives off Europe’s shores has not been heeded.

Instead, an EU border operation is to be launched to tackle migratory flows in the Central Mediterranean.

“To date, there has been an appalling lack of a collective response to search and rescue needs by the EU member states,” added Beger. “Operation Triton is a clear testimony to EU member states’ continuing preoccupation with protecting borders over people”.

Frontex’s Triton has a clear border management remit at its core, meaning search and rescue and saving lives cannot and will not be its focus. Instead it will concentrate on patrolling coastlines and vetting asylum seekers once they are ashore. In addition, compared to Mare Nostrum, it will not go as far into international waters, operating closer to Europe’s shores.

Triton will also have a budget of €3 million per month, compared to the €9 million per month spent by Italy on Mare Nostrum.

“Italy’s Mare Nostrum has saved thousands of lives, while the other member states idly watch on. They must now share that responsibility with them, and not hide behind an operation that is not fit for the very real search and rescue needs in the Mediterranean Sea” said Beger.

“As long as war, poverty and persecution prevail, desperate people will continue to take terrible risks. The EU and its member states cannot and must not turn their backs on them, leaving them to drown at Europe’s doorstep”.

Amnesty International is also calling on the EU to increase safe and legal routes to Europe to ensure people are not forced to take dangerous sea crossings in the first place.