The director of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in New York said this Monday before the Security Council whereas, although the number of people crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa has fallen considerably this year, there has been no improvement in access to protection along key routes for refugees and asylum seekers.
Sivanka Dhanapala pointed out that, on the contrary, there is a new increase in problems related to access to territory and asylum.
These risks are aggravated by the multiple dangers associated with travel along land routes in Africa towards the Mediterranean such as death, gender violence, kidnapping for ransom, trafficking, robbery and other types of physical violenceAccording to a joint UNHCR report, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mixed Migration Center published this year.
A second UNHCR report highlighted the large gaps in access to protection and humanitarian assistance along the routes, Dhanapala said.
The director indicated that the agency is working with its partners to implement a route-based approach with the aim of improving access to protection along key routes. This also includes strengthening access to services, as well as economic opportunities, and increasing safe, orderly and regular roads.
1,450 dead or missing in 2024
According to UNHCR, between January and August of this year, more than 134,000 refugees and migrants left by sea from North and West Africa to Europe, representing a 24% decrease compared to last year.
While arrivals in Italy decreased, the number of people disembarked in North African countries increased slightly, with almost 33,000 people disembarked in Tunisia and more than 14,000 in Libya, the director indicated.
According to the IOM Missing Migrants Project, as of September 17, 2024, there were approximately 1,450 people dead or missing in the Mediterranean. This figure represents a decrease of 44%compared to 2,609 people in the same period last year.
In Libya, as of September 15 of this year, it is estimated that more than 97,000 Sudanese refugees have arrived since April 2023.
At the same time, Dhanapala continued, many of the problems highlighted persist in 2023, such as unequal access to detention centers and the very limited possibility of achieving the release of people in need of international protection, the lack of access to landing sites controlled by some entities involved in interceptions at sea and restrictions affecting the nationalities that UNHCR can register.
In this context, the agency made six urgent recommendations:
Safeguard human rights; strengthen access to state protection; increase search and rescue at sea; pursue smugglers and traffickers and protect victims; reinforce investments in development and inclusion in countries of asylum and transit, expand resettlement quotas and expand complementary pathways; and address the root causes.
Beyond reactive measures
Along similar lines, the director of the International Organization for Migration Office in New York urged governments to ensure the activation of search and rescue operations in all dangerous situationsboth on land and at sea.
Pär Liljert said the international community must not allow the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea to continue becoming mass graves for migrants.
Furthermore, it warned that those disembarked in Libya face various human rights violations, such as detention, torture and human trafficking, and are at high risk of being trafficked again.
In this regard, Liljert noted that teams on the ground at the Al Kufra entry point between Sudan and Libya have reported a change in the profile of arrivals, reporting the presence of a significantly higher number of women and children.
Secondly, the director called for a “holistic approach” to address root causes and foster regional cooperation and solutions.
“We must go beyond reactive measures and develop a comprehensive route-based strategic approach that addresses the adverse factors of irregular migration,” said Liljert, detailing that countries and communities of origin and transit need better services, greater access to opportunities economics, education, stability and “clear alternatives to risking their lives at the hands of smugglers.”
Third, the agency encouraged expanding humanitarian avenues “for those still in need of safe haven,” such as humanitarian visas, temporary protection permits, private sponsorships, education opportunities, temporary work permits, planned relocation, family reunification and medical evacuations.
Escape from violence to more violence
According to data from the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix for 2023 and 2024, economic reasons (44%), war and conflict (29%) and the desire to escape personal or targeted violence (26%) They are the main drivers for migrants to leave their country of origin.
More than half of the migrants interviewed by the Matrix suffered at least one type of abuse, violence and exploitation. On all routes, adolescents traveling alone are more vulnerable.
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