Do aid organizations help people smugglers? ‘It’s about money, not people’

As prime minister, Mark Rutte will visit his new Italian colleague Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday. One of the main topics of conversation during that visit: migration. Rutte has promised his VVD to do everything possible to reduce the influx of asylum seekers and migrants to Europe, and in particular to the Netherlands.

He has a companion in Meloni, the right-wing politician no longer wants migrants to venture across to Italy from Africa or Turkey in boats. She specifically targets aid organizations such as Doctors without Borders, Sea-Watch, SOS Mediterranee and the Red Cross. These NGOs (non-governmental organisations) sail aid ships along the Libyan coast to pick up migrants in need. The ships then (usually) sail on to Italy.

Before his visit to Italy, Rutte told NOS that ‘some of these organizations are part of a very cynical business model of people smugglers’. Yesterday he stated that that statement may have been ‘a little too short-sighted’. He qualified his statement as: “Some NGOs with the best intentions may inadvertently contribute to this model, and it is good to look at that.”

The NGOs remain angry and will ask for clarification from Rutte in a letter.

Almost every day, boats full of migrants depart from the coasts of Libya, Tunisia and Turkey on their way to Europe. These are often dinghies with a few dozen people, sometimes larger wooden ships with hundreds of people on board. Last year, 105,000 migrants arrived in Italy in this way, this year so far 15,000, according to figures from the UN refugee agency UNHCR. It also reports that 1300 migrants drowned or went missing at sea last year.

Last month things went horribly wrong: an old fishing boat, packed with 200 migrants, hit a sandbank just off Italy’s south coast and broke in two. At least seventy people drowned. The ship had departed from Turkey a few days earlier.

Since 2014, ships belonging to aid organizations have been sailing the Mediterranean Sea to assist such boats in distress. In practice, the NGOs mainly sail up and down the coast of Libya. Most boats depart from that coast. Once the aid ships have taken the migrants on board, they ask the authorities of the nearest safe countries for a ‘port of safety’. In practice, this is usually Italy.

Italian authorities called the nogs a few years ago ‘the water taxi of the migrants’. The main reproach: due to the presence of the aid organizations, more boats would try to cross the river.

This so-called pull factor was cited again last month by the Italian intelligence service. The agency stated that “the smuggling networks publish the presence of the rescue ships on social media as a guarantee of a safe passage”. The presence of the NGOs gives ‘the criminal organizations a logistical advantage’. “They can adjust the quality of the boats they use accordingly, increasing their yields, but putting the migrants in greater danger.” The European border control organization also states that there is a so-called pull factor.

However, several scientific studies do not find that pull factor. In 2017, researchers from the University of Oxford looked at whether more migrants arrived in Italy in previous years in periods when there were more rescue ships (from NGOs and national navies) than in periods when there were fewer rescue ships. They saw the opposite: more people arrived in Italy during the period when there were few rescue ships at sea.

Two Italian researchers also found no connection between the number of migrants who ventured across and the number of rescue ships present. A third study states that there does seem to be a connection between the presence of the auxiliary ships and the type of boats that are sent out to sea. Worse boats when help is nearby. The reports also state that there are many other factors at play: the weather, the security situation in Libya and the emergence of a new crisis in the world.

The NGOs say that boats also leave when they are not in the vicinity of Libya. “The smugglers care about the money, not the safety of the people,” a spokesperson for SOS Mediterranee said to this site earlier. “We are proud of what we are doing in the Mediterranean, but we would I would like not to do it again,” said Bob Ghosn of the International Red Cross. “Europe must take responsibility for the search and rescue operations.” .

The migrants themselves say that the smugglers tell them to ‘look carefully if you see a large ship and then sail there’. They do not say that it is a ship belonging to an aid organization and they do not receive the locations of that ship. The auxiliary ships also sail more than 20 kilometers from the coast.

Some smugglers do give the migrants (satellite) telephones, which they can use to call a pre-programmed number if they are in need. This is often the number of aid organization AlarmPhone. They pass on the emergency report, with coordinates, to Italian, Maltese or Greek authorities and aid organizations at sea. Aid organizations do not cooperate with the Libyan authorities and do not return the migrants to that country. They argue that Libya is not a safe country for migrants, which is confirmed by, among other things, a UN report.

The Libyan Coast Guard also intercepts migrant boats. They take the people on board back to Libya and detain them there.

Mark Rutte initially stated that some organizations are part of the cynical business model of the people smugglers. He later adapted that to ‘some organizations that with the best intentions unintentionally contribute’ to that business model. It shows that he is not sure about his case.

Smugglers use the presence of the auxiliary ships in their marketing. But the question is how much effect that will have. Conversely, news reports about shipping disasters do not seem to cause a decrease in the number of boats.

There is no convincing public evidence for Rutte’s (adjusted) claim. Studies show no direct relationship between the number of people crossing and the presence of the auxiliary ships. Even in periods when there are fewer or no auxiliary vessels, boats choose the sea. In addition, boats arrive in Italy without getting into trouble and being picked up along the way.

Rutte’s remark is therefore not convincing.