Members of the German Green party are calling on the country’s government to deploy police in the Mediterranean to save drowning migrants.
Despite having no Mediterranean coastline, German politicians have frequently demanded the state help migrants crossing the sea in boats, with senior MPs calling for the police to directly intervene to prevent drownings.
“As long as there is no European sea rescue [policy], the interior minister should send the federal police to a humanitarian aid operation,” Greens party MP Julian Pahlke declared.
Dieses Jahr könnte auf dem Mittelmeer das Tödlichste seit 2017 werden.
Um das Sterben zu verhindern, sollte die Bundespolizei von der Innenministerin in einen humanitären Hilfseinsatz geschickt werden, um Menschen zu retten.
Gründe dafür gibt es genug:
1/4https://t.co/v5cs95fzvD— Julian Pahlke (@J_Pahlke) August 11, 2023
The politician justified his demand by noting that the Irish Government has already sent a number of its naval vessels to aid rescue efforts, despite the island nation being located nowhere near the southern ocean.
“The [German] federal police would have the right ships for such an operation,” he added.
“This does not require a mandate from the Bundestag, the Federal Ministry of the Interior could launch an aid mission.”
Such a suggestion is unlikely to go down well with the Italian Government, which has repeatedly tried to reduce the “negative impact” of the numerous migrant rescue vessels being operated by German NGOs in the Mediterranean. Italy has impounded various vessels for allegedly breaking its immigration laws.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has described the ships as “ferry boats” for migrants looking to enter Europe, accusing left-wing NGOs of working “with human traffickers to shuttle people from one country to the other”.
By contrast, many such boats operating in the Mediterranean receive significant funding from the German Government, which has committed itself to “not to let people drown” in the Mediterranean.
Germany’s ruling coalition is also pushing for the establishment of a coordinated European Union-sponsored rescue operation to be organised regarding the seaway, although that has yet to materialise.
As many as 41 migrants have reportedly died following a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to four people claiming to be the only survivors of the disaster. https://t.co/rxEgbMFjTH
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 9, 2023
