Dear Mayor,
his call is our priority: people at sea must be rescued. At all costs. And his proposal to use every means, including the contribution of individuals in the protection of people through the European civil service, goes in the right direction. For years the European Parliament has been calling for efficient and coherent initiatives to govern immigration and asylum. And governments have been refusing to give the European Union the powers to intervene for years.
The rescue operations at sea carried out by the “Sofia” operation were not included in the mandate of the new “Irini” operation, dedicated instead only to the control of arms trafficking. Saving people is an inalienable duty and this is the time to allow the European Union to organize a great initiative that morally and politically qualifies the defense of our values. The deafness and selfishness of governments is no longer tolerable. We make every effort, involving institutions and politics, public opinion and the world of communication, so that there is a quick response to those who ask for help from us.
In a very pragmatic way today it would be possible to entrust the Union with four tasks: search and rescue at sea, through a shared European mechanism; a stronger resettlement program in the EU of people in need of protection, with real humanitarian channels; an equitable redistribution, through an agreed and predictable scheme among all member countries; common criteria for legal entry for work reasons, with quotas to be defined at national level to be absorbed in our labor market.
Migrants, Mayor Orlando writes to Sassoli: “Establish a European civil service for rescue at sea”
by Laura Mari
This is especially important when we think of our aging societies. In our districts and in our companies, we are in great need of regular and safe workers. We need it in our countryside, where immigrant laborers in irregular conditions live and work as slaves; in our factories, where the demand for regular labor can allow growth and prosperity.
Ultimately, without new competences and new powers, the European Union will only be able to work as a substitute system with ineffective results.
You are right dear Mayor, we cannot wait any longer. I assure you that the European Parliament is at the forefront in asking for a humanitarian operation to be launched as soon as possible to respond at least to the cry of pain that the news reports so frequently.
With friendship,
David Sassoli
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