In five days, 5,000 Tunisians were able to enter the European territory by landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa. Following these arrivals, Rome has declared a state of humanitarian emergency.
On the antenna chain TG5, the Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, has attacked the European Union (EU), pointing to his inaction on this issue: "Europe does nothing . I am very concerned and asked for the urgent intervention of the EU because the Maghreb is exploding. As usual, we were left alone. We manage the humanitarian emergency with only the civil protection .Intervention is essential for Europe. "
In Brussels, the European Commission has ensured that the Italian government was considering a series of measures to curb the phenomenon. Among these include, in particular, enhanced the action of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex). On Monday, in fact, several European countries insist on the need to reassess the increasing involvement of the agency in the region.The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for strengthening of Frontex operational and development cooperation with countries of origin and transit. " "A shared priority with Italy," the Quai d'Orsay.
A one-time influx
According to Mehdi Lahlou, a specialist in migration dynamics of the Mediterranean and professor of economics at the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEE) in Rabat, Morocco, such a decision would be disproportionate in the short term: "It must understand that this is an exceptional flow, probably related to recent events in Tunisia, not a sustainable trend.These people, who managed to slip through the cracks, are likely complicity in Italy and were able to negotiate their passage. "
In a report published by the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) in February 2011, Mehdi Lahlou is also underscored the fact that, according to figures from Frontex, the "irregular arrivals by sea borders Europe - mainly from Southern Mediterranean coast - have decreased by 43% between 2008 and 2009 from 84,900 in 2008 to 48,700 in 2009. "
For him, reinforcing the structure would be mostly a proof of the concern of the EU in the face of rising popular movements in the Arab world: "If Brussels is taking this decision is that European leaders expect a flashover in the region that will lead to new influxes of migrants.In this case, this increase would finally a step in a process that would see the massive mobilization of numerous other entities, including naval forces in the southern countries of Europe. "
A controversial entity
Since 2007, Frontex, in partnership with several countries in northern and southern Mediterranean, organizing joint patrols in the joint operations of border surveillance.
Claire Rodier, lawyer in the Group Information and support for immigrants (GIST) and President of the European Migreurop, the fact that 5,000 migrants were able to slip through the net would be a deeper explanation: "The breach recent days in the control of the Mediterranean area could be related to voluntary relaxation of vigilance by the Libyan authorities, working closely with Italy in this area [the two countries signed a treaty of "friendship and Cooperation "in June 2009, Ed].This would then not be the first time [Muammar] Gaddafi would open the floodgates of illegal migration to Europe to influence the course of negotiations in progress with the EU, in particular on the strengthening of the southern border of Libya ".
A thesis which does not believe Mehdi Lahlou: "The assumption that Libya would have facilitated the passage of Tunisian migrants to Europe is, in my view, implausible. The only thing that could push the Gaddafi regime to open valves would implicitly threaten the European Union with a massive influx of migrants if it continues to support popular movements.A scenario that seems, however, too convoluted and too risky. "
He concluded: "It is rather the question of the identity of these migrants, who I believe could be linked by various people through the old Tunisian administration.
