Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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158. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the position Ireland took regarding the inclusion of a humanitarian or search and rescue mandate during EU negotiations for the renewal of Operation Irini; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21070/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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EUNAVFOR MED Operation IRINI is tasked with “contributing to the implementation of the UN arms embargo on Libya,” and “within its means and capabilities, supporting the monitoring of the implementation of the UN measures to prevent the illicit export of petroleum from Libya”. It does not have a humanitarian search and rescue mandate. The inclusion of a humanitarian search and rescue mandate was not raised during negotiations around the renewal of the mandate for Operation IRINI earlier this year. The most recent Strategic Review of Operation IRINI concluded that the Operation should continue “contributing to the detection and monitoring of human smuggling and trafficking networks within its Area of Operation.”

In agreeing to extend the mandate of Operation IRINI by two years, until 31 March 2025, it was agreed to conduct a mid-term assessment on the mandate of Operation EUNAVFOR MED IRINI by 31 March 2024.

While Operation IRINI has no mandate for Safety of life at Sea/Search and Rescue (SOLAS/SAR) and, as such, is not regarded as a pull factor for migration, the mission direction is that, should there be an occasion where an Operation IRINI ship is involved in SOLAS/SAR, the migrants would be disembarked to a European Coastguard ship as soon as possible.

The involvement of Operation IRINI assets in any SAR/SOLAS event would be conducted in line with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The recent strategic review of the mission indicated that in 2022, 91,985 migrants arrived via the Central Mediterranean Route into Europe in 2022. Of this figure, an estimated 163 (0.17 per cent) were rescued by Operation IRINI.

Since the beginning of the mission in March 2020, Operation IRINI ships have only been directly involved in three rescue events – two events in 2022 and one in April 2023.

In April 2023, the Italian Flagship for the Operation IRINI mission conducted a rescue and recovered 611 migrants over two occasions on 13 and 16 Apr 2023. The migrants were brought to Augusta, Italy and disembarked.

In July and September 2022, Greek and Italian frigates were each involved in rescue missions. Two US ships were also involved in the latter rescue mission.