At a meeting in Malaga, southern Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Greece and Spain, (MED5) agreed to "demand from the European Union that the common migration policy or based on a fair distribution of responsibilities between Member States ”.
This will require the establishment of a "predictable and mandatory relocation mechanism for states that have to deal with arrivals due to their geographical location", underlines the joint statement issued by Spain, host of the meeting.
Departures and arrivals on the increase
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, for example, refused to accept migrants during the 2015 wave caused largely by the war in Syria.
“Our voice and our vision must not only be taken into account, but also become central in European politics,” Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told reporters.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), migrant departures, interceptions and arrivals in the central Mediterranean are on the increase this year.
At least 1,113 people died in the Mediterranean during the first half of 2021 while trying to reach Europe, according to the IOM whose 2020 report estimated the number of deaths linked to these clandestine crossings at 17,000 between 2014 and 2018.
SOS Méditerranée claims for its part to have rescued more than 34,000 people since February 2016, first with the Aquarius, then with the Ocean Viking.
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