IAWM Press Statement on Migrant Deaths in Mediterranean 22 April 2015

IAWM Press Statement on Migrant Deaths in Mediterranean 22 April 2015
The Irish Anti-War Movement condemns the disgraceful response of the EU to the ongoing tragedy of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean.
The governments of the EU bear direct responsibility for these appalling events. Last November they deliberately cut funding for the sea rescue operation Mare Nostrum and replaced it with the agency Frontex whose priority is border control and which only operates within 30 miles of the Italian coast. The consequences of this callous action were predictably disastrous. It is also clear that this dreadful attitude is caused by these governments’ anxious appeasement of the racist and fascist right across Europe who have whipped up anti- migrant and xenophobic hatred.
There is also a deeper responsibility. The refugee crisis is the result of the catastrophic situation prevailing in Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East – Iraq, Syria, Yemen etc. This situation has mainly been produced and exacerbated by disastrous military interventions, occupations and invasions by NATO and western powers. The Irish Anti-War movement has consistently warned that these interventions and wars would make things worse. Tragically this is the case.
When it served our rulers’ interests to invade Libya or Iraq or Afghanistan they claimed they were doing it for humanitarian reasons and money was no object. Now, faced with a real humanitarian crisis, they look the other way and there is no money.
The Irish Anti-War Movement condemns this hypocrisy. We call for:
1. No repetition of the failed policies of the past – no further military interventions in the Middle East or North Africa and a halt to arms sales to despotic regimes.
2. An immediate increase in Ireland’s, and other EU states’, willingness to accept refugees.
3. An immediate and large scale increase in sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
END
Contact:

IAWM Press Statement on Migrant Deaths in Mediterranean 22 April 2015
The Irish Anti-War Movement condemns the disgraceful response of the EU to the ongoing tragedy of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean.
The governments of the EU bear direct responsibility for these appalling events. Last November they deliberately cut funding for the sea rescue operation Mare Nostrum and replaced it with the agency Frontex whose priority is border control and which only operates within 30 miles of the Italian coast. The consequences of this callous action were predictably disastrous. It is also clear that this dreadful attitude is caused by these governments’ anxious appeasement of the racist and fascist right across Europe who have whipped up anti- migrant and xenophobic hatred.
There is also a deeper responsibility. The refugee crisis is the result of the catastrophic situation prevailing in Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East – Iraq, Syria, Yemen etc. This situation has mainly been produced and exacerbated by disastrous military interventions, occupations and invasions by NATO and western powers. The Irish Anti-War movement has consistently warned that these interventions and wars would make things worse. Tragically this is the case.
When it served our rulers’ interests to invade Libya or Iraq or Afghanistan they claimed they were doing it for humanitarian reasons and money was no object. Now, faced with a real humanitarian crisis, they look the other way and there is no money.
The Irish Anti-War Movement condemns this hypocrisy. We call for:
1. No repetition of the failed policies of the past – no further military interventions in the Middle East or North Africa and a halt to arms sales to despotic regimes.
2. An immediate increase in Ireland’s, and other EU states’, willingness to accept refugees.
3. An immediate and large scale increase in sea rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
END
Contact:
John Molyneux, Secretary, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 085 735 6424
Jim Roche, PRO, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 087 647 2737
Memet Uludag, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 087 7919307
Ed Horgan, Steering Committee IAWM, Tel. 085 8519623
Website – www.irishantiwar.org
@IrishAntiWarMvt https://twitter.com/#!/IrishAntiWarMvt
Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/25608030879/