EU migrant pact agreement will cause more deaths say NGOs

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 20 - The new Pact on Migration and Asylum legalises abuse of migrants and refugees at the external borders of the European Union and will lead to more deaths at sea, non-governmental organisations engaged in sea rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean said on Wednesday.
    "The new EU pact on migration legalises abuses at the border and will cause more deaths at sea: the outcome of the negotiations legitimises the status quo at the EU's external borders, where violence and rejections are daily practices," said Sea Watch, Sea Eye, Maldusa, Mediterranea Saving Humans, Open Arms, Resq People Saving People, AlarmPhone, Salvamento Maritimo Humanitario and Sos Humanity in a joint statement.
    "The failed Dublin system will be maintained and instead refugees and asylum seekers will continue to be isolated in remote camps.
    "More and more people will try to flee by sea, choosing increasingly dangerous routes," added the NGOs.
    One of the signatories, Italian NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, received praise from Pope Francis for its life-saving work in the Mediterranean during his general audience on Wednesday morning.
    Under the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the European Council, the new Pact maintains the Dublin regulation, namely the principle whereby the first EU country that a migrant or refugee enters is responsible for processing their case.
    However, a new solidarity mechanism has been created among Member States to balance the current system in which a handful of countries, including Italy, are responsible for the vast majority of asylum applications due to their geographical position on the EU's external borders.
    Under this mechanism, some migrants will be relocated to other EU countries and countries that refuse to take in migrants will have to provide a financial contribution.
    Photo: The Ocean Viking humanitarian rescue ship operated by French NGO Sos Mediterranée. (ANSA).