Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

At least 300 people who were travelling on migrant boats from Senegal to Spain's Canary Islands have disappeared. The boats they travelled on have been missing for 15 days since they left Senegal to try to reach Spain. Nobody embarks on these deadly journeys out of choice. These families face extreme poverty, deprivation, extremes of heat and weather and persecution. Each migrant's story is their own. In news reports, their lives may be reduced to just numbers on a page but they are much more than that. They are human beings with their hopes and dreams and are trying to escape broken systems in search of better ones only to be left to perish at sea. The Atlantic migration route, one of the deadliest in the world, is typically used by migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. According to data from the UN's International Organization for Migration, at least 559 people, including 22 children, died in 2022 while attempting to reach the Canary Islands.

Members of the European Parliament will vote on Thursday on a motion calling for a new EU-wide search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean. In light of the most recent tragedy and all of those which have come before in the Mediterranean, it is apparent that we are too late in that endeavour. We are too late to save lives which could have been saved, such as when the boat carrying 750 migrants capsized off the coast of Greece last month in one of the deadliest migration tragedies to ever happen in the Mediterranean.

The slow and unco-ordinated response of EU states left no chance for survival and those states must be held to account. More than 5,000 deaths have been recorded on European migration routes since 2021 and 29,000 have died in the past ten years on these routes. The missing migrants project records show that many of the deaths on migratory routes to destination countries across Europe could have been prevented with prompt and effective assistance to migrants in distress. The actions of some EU governments recently have been beyond negligent if not nefarious when it comes to the migrants and refugees, all of whom are simply people.

In my pre-European Council statement, I recounted that in 2019 an EU resolution would have compelled states to step up search and rescue operations relating to migrants in small boats in the Mediterranean but it was heartlessly voted down. All four Fine Gael MEPs voted against the resolution on that occasion; that resolution lost by two votes. This was a conscious decision to disregard the lives of those fleeing famine, war extremes of weather and persecution in search of a better life, in search of safety. Culpability should be recognised for this lack of humanity in terms of how that Parliament took decisions. This Thursday there is a chance to step up to our ethical duties and call for new EU-wide search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean. The EU cannot fail thousands of migrants and I hope this motion will be widely supported in coming days.

Reports of survivors relayed to the International Organization for Migration indicate that since 2021 at least 252 people died during alleged forced explosions by European authorities, also known as pushbacks. Addressing these pushbacks is included in Thursday's motion which is a very welcome addition. The European People's Party, EPP, which Fine Gael co-founded is part of the coalition that put forward this motion which needs as much support as possible. We should not forget that the EPP is one of the main reasons the 2019 search and rescue motions were voted down. Actions have consequences it is important to learn from mistakes. I only hope that Thursday will mark the vast change of approach required to prevent avoidable deaths of those who not only seek a better life, but seek to survive the one they have. I can think of no greater endeavour on the part of the European Parliament or the representatives we send there.

See this speech in context