Italian Premier Matteo Renzi
said Friday some progress was made at Thursday's EU migrant
emergency summit, in which leaders decided to triple funding for
the EU Triton sea mission and to review ways to destroy people
smugglers' boats before they depart.
"A step forward was taken, but the road ahead remains
long," Renzi said.
"As of yesterday (the migrant crisis) is no longer just
Italy and Malta's problem but everyone's problem...as of
yesterday, for the first time we are saying our brothers are not
dying by chance but as slaves to a racket".
EU leaders agreed to triple funding for Triton to 120
million euros a year and to extend its "operational area" beyond
30 nautical miles from coastlines, European Commission
spokesperson Natasha Bernaud said Friday.
However, they stopped short of changing Triton's mandate
into a fully fledged search-and-rescue operation.
While countries such as Belgium, Britain, Croatia, France,
Germany, Norway and Slovenia offered ships and resources, the
matter of how to distribute migrants equally among EU members
remained unresolved as many members mounted strong resistance to
their relocation on their soil.
Migrant reception remained on a voluntary basis, with
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker admitting he
wished for "a more ambitious result".
However, EU sources said the matter had not been settled
and will likely return to the table at an upcoming summit in
June.
Amnesty International called the summit's outcome "a
face-saving operation, not a life-saving one".
"Real solutions could have been agreed upon" to prevent
more deaths, said Amnesty International Brussels Director Iverna
McGowan.
"If the Triton mandate can't be changed, Triton is not a
solution".
European heads of state agreed on the need to fight people
smugglers.
France and Great Britain will put forward a resolution to
seek UN cover for a military operation which includes surgical
strikes on the Libyan coast in order to destroy the boats before
they are used - an idea which the Vatican has slammed as
counterproductive and potentially fatal to innocent bystanders.
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