Petition: Revoke the decision to end British support for search-and-rescue operations for migrants in danger of drowning in the Mediterranean
Source: Composite by G_marius based on a Petits Detectius’ image
Purpose and potential supporters:
Contribute to save human lives. Human rights organisations and NGOs supporting migrants and refugees such as Amnesty International and the British Refugee Council
Petition addressed to:
The Rt Hon Theresa May MP (Secretary of State for the Home Department) and The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)
Rationale for the petition:
Search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean are crucial to save the lives of thousands of immigrants that try to reach European land by sea. Without operations such as the Italian Mare Nostrum, more than 150,000 immigrants may have drowned in the past year. This operation is about to be replaced by a new one run by Frontex, the European border agency. The new Triton operation is a much more limited one and will not run rescue operations. We believe this is unacceptable. We believe that far from withdrawing the support to search-and-rescue operations, the UK government should press and make sure that operation Mare Nostrum is replaced by a new operation that prevents further mass migrant drownings on Europe's doorstep.
Petition:
Dear Rt Hon Theresa May MP and The Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP,
We are signing this petition to ask you to revoke the decision to end British support for search-and-rescue operations for migrants in danger of drowning in the Mediterranean. There is no reason to believe that search-and-rescue operations are acting as a “pull factor” for illegal migration as you suggest to justify your decision. In fact, without them, the number of deaths in the Mediterranean may increase dramatically. Operation Mare Nostrum was established by the Italian Government in October 2013 to tackle the dramatic increase of migratory flows and tragic ship wreckages off the island of Lampedusa. In 12 months of operations, the Italian Navy has engaged in 421 operations and rescued 150,810 migrants. Since the operation started, 5 mother ships have been seized and 330 alleged smugglers have been brought to justice (more information available at: http://www.marina.difesa.it/EN/operations/Pagine/MareNostrum.aspx). Mare Nostrum is to be replaced from 1 November with a much more limited EU border protection operation named Triton run by Frontex. Triton will operate within 30 miles of the Italian coast and will not conduct search-and-rescue missions. This is clearly not enough to deal with the tragic losses of lives in the Mediterranean and British support to rescue operations is crucial. We believe this is unacceptable. We believe that far from withdrawing the support to search-and-rescue operations, the UK government should press and make sure that operation Mare Nostrum is replaced by a new operation that prevents further mass migrant drownings on Europe's doorstep. We thank you in advance for considering the petition.
Yours sincerely,
Goal:
500
Petition by:
Jomarvic, London, UK
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1360 xp
344 posts
My grandfather was an immigrant (left age 14), my father was an immigrant (left age 33) and my brother and I are immigrants. I was born in the same country as my father, left when i was 9 months, and again 18 years later. I have lived in 8 different countries over a 19 year period. And to top it off, in my job, i deal with a lot of immigrants from less developed countries. So without making assumptions about your background (i use a handle, that's not my real name), i suspect you don't have as much 'exposure' to the topic as i do. To the specifics of your comment, of course those less fortunate want to escape the misery in their countries. But there are physical limits to the amount of people a nation can process without being negatively impacted and how our shitty policies negatively reinforce illegal immigration . I assume overpaid bureaucrats in Brussels, Berlin or Washington (and bleeding hearts in general) get all nice and fuzzy when they talk about "inhumane barriers" and "we should do better"...however, they don't have to deal with the enormous strain that illegal immigration poses on countries and regions on the geographical front line (e.g. Italy or Spain for Africa, Arizona or New Mexico for Latin America, Australia for South East Asia etc), in the immediate (policing, processing) and later term (wellfare abuse, reduction in education quality, increase in criminality). The lack of clear regulations (and enforcement) completely removes any serious consideration of legal immigration options.
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