The European Union has announced new measures aimed at preventing deaths in the Mediterranean sea of migrants fleeing war, poverty and political repression in the Middle East and Africa.

After crisis talks held on April 23 in the wake of the drowning of 750 migrants while crossing from Libya for either Italy or Malta, European leaders said they will triple funding for search-and-rescue operations to $86 million, deploy the military to capture and destroy smugglers’ boats, and station immigration officers in the most affected source countries.

Several EU member states also promised more ships and other resources.

More than 35,000 people are thought to have crossed from Africa to Europe in the first four months of this year alone, with more than 1,750 people having died this year making the perilous sea crossing to try to reach Europe — 30 times higher than the same period in 2014.

Human-rights groups said the EU summit should also have expanded the scope of EU-led naval patrols closer to the Libyan coast and offered more accommodation to migrants who make it to Europe safely through a common asylum and immigration policy that does not exist now.

European Council president Donald Tusk said the EU will “step up co-operation against smuggling networks by working through Europol and by deploying immigration officers to third countries,” and will “co-ordinate the resettlement of more people to Europe on a voluntary basis and with an option for emergency relocation.”

This month alone, at least five boats carrying almost 2,000 illegal migrants to Europe sank in the Mediterranean, with a combined death toll of more than 1,200 people.

Last year, some 219,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean, and at least 3,500 lives were lost, according to figures from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Those who perished in the Mediterranean come from 35 different countries including Syrians who are fleeing the civil war in their country. The migrant boats from Libya are also carrying Afghans, Somalis and Iraqis — who are also fleeing conflict — as well as Eritreans and Ethiopians who are escaping oppressive regimes.

Other migrants from Africa are Sierra Leoneans, Malians, Senegalese, Gambians, Nigerians and Ivoirians who are seeking economic opportunities in Europe. The largest group of migrants from Africa using the Mediterranean route come from Eritrea, Mali and Nigeria.

According to UNHCR, 34,329 migrants from Eritrea reached Europe, while 9,938 came from Mali and 9,000 from Nigeria.

But thousands of those who made it to Europe will be sent back as irregular migrants under a new rapid-return programme, which was part of the emergency EU summit recommendations. About 10,000 migrants, likely to be those from the Mediterranean countries, will be resettled across Europe.

Young men

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), so far in 2015 alone, more than 40,000 boat tragedy survivors have reached Italy, Malta and Greece, almost a fifth of the 200,000 who managed to get to these countries the whole of last year.

From the Horn and East Africa, migrants tend to be young men between the ages of 20 and 30. According to a UNHCR report, Eritreans leave mostly because of the oppressive government, compulsory military conscription and into government work, unrelenting abuse and humiliation, constant threat of imprisonment or torture by government officials for practicing “a banned religious faith,” poverty and limited democratic and political space.

For Ethiopians, economic reasons are cited as the primary factor for migrating, but political oppression, especially for those from the Oromo region in the south, are also cited.

Somali migrants cited the civil war, which has been ongoing since 1991. In Sudan, refugees from Darfur fled because of political repression by Khartoum, which has been fighting separatist movements in the region since the 1990s.

The journey taken by migrants from the Horn and East Africa starts in Somaliland, and on to Ethiopia, Ethiopia to Sudan, or Eritrea to Sudan and Sudan to Libya. Alternatively, from Kenya, the migrants are moved to Uganda, where they head to South Sudan then to Sudan where they are taken to Libya.

For those coming from Somalia and Sudan, it costs about $600 to $1,600 depending on the time of year, the security situation, and the smuggler who will transport you to Libya. This is the longest route and it takes almost 10 days.

In West Africa, the main route to Libya is through Niger and it costs $100-$300. It is also one of the most dangerous routes since it involves crossing the Sahara desert.

On Wednesday, a meeting between officials of the European Commission and the African Union was held in Brussels to discuss the Mediterranean crisis. The European Commission was backed by EU foreign and interior ministers. 

AU chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said that the meeting had identified immigration, how to deal with traffickers and the conditions on the ground in the countries of origin as the issues both the AU and EU needed to deal with.

“We are also looking at how to address unemployment, which is a core reason for the migrants’s flight from Africa. We are a youthful continent and we are going to need more jobs,” said Ms Dlamini Zuma.

The meeting also agreed to increase support to Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Mali and Niger to monitor and control their land borders to prevent potential migrants from getting to the shores of the Mediterranean.

The AU’s 1969 refugee convention (through its predecessor, the Organisation of African Union) prides itself on being the spirit of African solidarity and international co-operation but it seems to have failed to address the migration problem.

AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Dr Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko said that they were trying to address the issue with the Libyan government in a bid to identify and shut down the exit ports of the human trafficking.

“As the African Union, we are looking at a more proactive approach to stemming these people-smuggling operations. We are also working with the relevant governments, especially those hosting refugees. We are also working closely with the EU in addressing the issue of illegal migration,” Dr Kaloko told the BBC Focus on Africa Programme.

The AU has also signed a number of joint frameworks with the European Union including the Ouagadougou Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings, which commits both the AU and the EU to a partnership to better manage migration in a spirit of shared responsibility and co-operation.

Unfortunately, the migrant problem has so far come out as an EU problem, with the AU doing very little about it, especially in stopping the growing tide of illegal migration across its borders.

African countries, from where a majority of the Mediterranean fatalities have come, also need to be compelled to help save the situation. Eritrea, for instance, has the second largest migrant community within the EU and is one of the countries worst hit by these deaths, but it is yet to issue any statement on the crisis.

About 350 Eritreans are reported to have been aboard the ship that sank last week. Interestingly, African economies perceived to be doing well such as Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia also contribute a large number to this migrant exodus.

IOM’s latest study shows that close to 10 million people move within East Africa annually. While not all of these individuals migrate illegally, many of them do so illegally out of the region’s borders. Most of these individuals come from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.

Currently, there are close to five million African migrants legally living in Europe, with the Migration Policy Institute noting that there are more than eight million irregular African immigrants living in the EU alone.