Regrets over drowned migrants off the Libyan Coast
The Czech EU Presidency expresses deep regrets over the three hundred or more lives lost after three fishing boats with African migrants aboard capsized in the Libyan waters.
Illegal migration in the Mediterranean has been one of the EU top priorities for many years. Last month, pursuant to joint proposals of four Member States in the region, the EU approved of further enhanced measures to prevent similar human suffering.
In reaction to the latest development, the Presidency wishes to expand its measures to combat illegal migration and, above all, its organizers. The perpetrators - gangs of smugglers - who profit from illegal migration, put the migrants at high risk. To prevent the loss of more lives, the measures should target primarily the causes of illegal migration and aim at their suppression.
Contact:
- Markéta Matlochová, Spokesperson for Czech Presidency of the EU, Ministry of the Interior
- tel.: +420 974 832 971, GSM: +420 603 191 750, e-mail: matlochova@mvcr.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:35
