Before it’s too late” “

Clashes and deaths on the frontier between Morocco and Spain, before the fence that separates Morocco from the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla; immigrants taken into the Sahara desert by bus and abandoned to the elements and an uncertain fate; intolerable conditions and abuses of human rights in temporary holding camps in Italy; and, not least, a huge number of tragedies at sea: emigration to Europe seems to be taking on an ever more dramatic and urgent character. Many requests are being made to improve the situation by those who try to defend the rights of migrants, but there are few organic and structured responses. Speaking in the European Parliament, EU Commissioner JÀN FIGEL recognized, in the session of 12 October, that without “effective responses” immigration would assume “proportions that we will no longer be able to control”. “Of course it won’t be walls and barbed wire that will block the refugees knocking at our frontiers – he said -. Our efforts must be on a wider scale and must involve the countries from which the refugees depart”. EU STRATEGY FOR AFRICA. “The problem of immigration, of which we have seen the dramatic consequences in Europe in recent days, may be effectively solved in the long term only through an ambitious and coordinated policy of cooperation in development that may permit its deepest causes to be combated”, said JOSÉ MANUEL DURAO BARROSO during a press conference at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels on 12 October, after the Executive has adopted a proposal “aimed at launching a new EU strategy for Africa”. The primary objectives of the EU strategy, solicited by the Council of heads of state and government of the 25 in June and reinforced by larger appropriations for cooperation in development, include “the realization of the Millennium Development Goals fixed by the UN”. Also present at the press conference of 12 October were the Commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, LOUIS MICHEL, and ALPHA OUMAR KONARÉ, former President of Mali, currently head of the Commission of the African Union. The “EU Strategy for Africa” revolves around some priority points “to secure sustainable development: peace and security, good government, trade, social cohesion, environmental sustainability”. According to Michel, who appealed for the support of the Council, this commitment “will mark a real turning point in helping Africa to cope by itself”. SHOCKING ABUSES. “Shocking abuses in terms of human rights”: that’s how six church organizations that work in the field of immigration and rights to asylum (CARITAS EUROPE, ECCLESIAL COMMISSION OF MIGRANTS IN EUROPE, COMECE, JESUIT REFUGEE SERVICE, QUAKER COUNCIL FOR EUROPEAN AFFAIRS) call the recent events that took place on the frontier between Morocco and Spain. They describe the situation as “ever more disturbing”. “To shoot down unarmed persons on the frontiers of the EU – say the six organizations – is deplorable, and a thorough judicial inquiry must be conducted to examine the events” in question. “The European Union – continues the statement – has the duty to respect these rights, in particular at a time when it is negotiating accords of re-admission with a third country or when it is reinforcing alliances with countries of transit or of origin. Human beings who attempt to enter the territory of the EU illegally must not be criminalized”. The aid organizations also call on the EU to “develop support for its asylum and immigration policy based on human rights, if it wants to secure long-term solutions in this field”. “THE LIFE OF EVERY PERSON IS SACRED”. “The life of every person is sacred, irrespective of his social condition or legal status, and nothing can justify the death of those who try to cross a frontier”: the Spanish Church forcefully reaffirms this concept in a statement issued by the EPISCOPAL COMMISSION FOR MIGRATION, which urges “other legitimate and proportionate methods” to prevent further deaths. “It is not only by preventing immigrants from crossing our frontiers, even with legitimate means, that the problems of migration can be solved”, write the bishops. They appeal to the “United Nations and its agencies, to the European Union and, in this specific case, to Spain and Morocco”. The appeal is shared by CARITAS ANDALUSIA. According to the Catholic aid organization, “the public authorities need to adopt effective measures immediately” and commit themselves “as a matter of urgency to actions aimed at the development of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa”. The bishop of Asidonia-Jerez, the Most Rev. JUAN DEL RIO MARTÌN, has also condemned what has happened and asks for the support “of the states of the European Union, the international organizations and the world financial institutions”. Bishop ANTONIO DORADO SOTO of Málaga (to which the Spanish enclave of Melilla belongs) asks that “a commission of the UNO or EU act on behalf of these people and seek a solution in full respect for their human dignity”.