International organisations support EU proposals on migration

Various international organizations here on Tuesday showed their concerns over the latest tragedies in the Mediterranean and their support for the initial efforts made by the European Union.

UN Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk said on Tuesday that he welcomed the EU Joint Foreign and Home Affairs proposal of a ten-point action plan following recent migrant tragedies in the Mediterranean.

"We believe that given existing regional crises, displacement is not going to go away, and that European political leadership should provide responses built on European values of dignity and solidarity," said Turk.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confirmed that only 28 out of the estimated 85O migrants on board the boat which sunk on Saturday are known to have survived.

Having been interviewed, the survivors identified their point of departure as Tripoli in Libya on Saturday morning, and that many children were on board, said UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards.

Among the migrants were some 350 Eritreans as well as unidentified numbers of Syrians, Sierra Leoneans, Malians, Senegalese, Gambians, Ivorians and Ethiopians.

"This is the deadliest incident in the Mediterranean we have ever recorded," said Edwards.

The tragedy followed similar cases earlier last week, as 400 migrant deaths on April 14 south of Malta and 50 more on April 17 were reported.

Turk emphasised the inherent complexity and urgency of the crisis, stating that whilst supporting the 10 point action plan, "the devil is in the detail."

The proposals, to be conveyed to the European Council during an extraordinary session on Thursday, call for greater financing and enhanced resources to boost search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, as well as a coordinated effort from countries and agencies to implement key measures to deal with the ongoing crisis.

Turk also mentioned that the refugee component needed to be addressed, since a large proportion of migrants who arrive on European shores are thought to be in need of international.

"The response should be multidimensional, there is a need to ensure that refugees are adequately dealt with and that Greece and Italy can call upon measures of solidarity to deal with arriving migrants and refugees," he continued.

UNHCR also stressed that search and rescue operations at sea remain the biggest priority as thousands of refugees and migrants continue to lose their lives each year.

Switzerland's Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga supported Europe's reaction in a statement made on Monday, adding that there are no easy solutions to the problem.

The confederation already agreed to take in 3,000 Syrian refugees over a three-year period, as well as securing CHF50 million in aid for Syria in March.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) believes the latest migrant death toll in the Mediterranean for 2015 to be 1,727, more than 30 times last year's number of deaths at this date.