Delegation of lawyers looks for solutions to Mediterranean migrant crisis

A delegation of 12 lawyers, jurists, and doctors have visited the migrant camps in Lampedusa and Sicily to investigate the crisis currently unfolding in the Mediterranean.

The delegation, assembled by the Society of Black Lawyers (SBL) and Association of Muslim Lawyers (AML), aims to prepare a report for dissemination to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UK government, EU Commissioners, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD.

Saimo Chahal QC (hon), partner and joint head of the public law team at Bindmans, who has also joined the delegation, said: 'The delegation is uniquely placed to look at the legal, humanitarian and political issues surrounding this devastating crisis. It is hoped that we can pull together information from these key perspectives and start a constructive dialogue with all sides to find a solution.'

The mission expected to interview up to 100 migrants over four days and meet with the local leaders, including the mayors of Catania and Lampedusa, along with various organisations such as Save the Children Fun, Italian Red Cross, and the Italian Migrants Lawyers Group.

Over 1,800 migrants have drowned already in 2015 after the EU decision to withdraw funding for 'Operation Mare Nostrum', which many human rights activists claim has directly led to the deaths of hundreds of migrants off the Libyan coast.

An estimated 60,000 migrants have arrived in Europe since the start of 2015. It is believed that over 250,000 are still living in poverty within Libya, waiting to make the perilous journey by boat.

There have been reports that migrants are threatened with violence by trafficking gangs who extort money from those fleeing the civil war, poverty, or persecution in their country of origin.

Many of migrants are not originally from Libya itself but come from such as countries such as Mali, Nigeria, Eritrea, and Syria.

Italy, Greece, and Malta have received the largest numbers of migrants to date. Germany has also taken 40,000 migrants. Meanwhile the UK and French governments have refused to take in more than a handful of refugees by comparison.

Last night, EU leaders agreed to relocate some of migrants who have arrived in Italy and Greece.

The president of the European Council and EU summit chairman, Donald Tusk, said 40,000 migrants would be relocated to other EU states over the next two years. However, the EU will not impose a quota on member states.

Following talks in Brussels, leaders also agreed to resettle 20,000 refugees currently outside the EU.

UK co-operation

The home secretary, Theresa May, recently called for migrants to be sent back to North Africa in a bid to stop more from following them.

'Obviously, lives are being put at risk but secondly, as we see in Calais and elsewhere, it's putting great pressure on European towns and cities which is even reaching to our borders, although we are not part of the borderless Schengen area,' she said at a meeting in Luxembourg.

'To deal with this issue in the long term we need to go after the criminal gangs who are plying a terrible, callous trade in human lives. We also need to break the link between people getting into the boats and reaching Europe. That means returning people to North Africa or elsewhere, or to their home countries; so that they see that there is no merit in this journey,' she added.

The UK had committed to take in just 500 migrants from Syria over three years. However, under increasing pressure to do more, the prime minister, David Cameron, recently announced that that the UK would work with the UN to 'modestly expand this national scheme so that we provide resettlement for the most vulnerable fleeing Syria'.

It is, however, believed that this increase will merely amount to a few hundred more migrants allowed into the UK.

'It is simply unacceptable for some parties/countries to say it's not their problem and leave other countries like Italy and Greece to shoulder the burden,' said Chahal.

'A solution can only be achieved if there is clear, united and concerted action by governments to deal with the crisis both in terms of providing refuge to the migrants but also terms of looking to provide aid and support to stabilise the regimes from which they are fleeing - get off my turf is not a solution that is going to work.'