BRUSSELS — The European Union has failed to develop ways to deter migrants from Africa making the journey to Europe without authorization and must do more to limit abuses against those attempting the journey, the bloc’s financial watchdog warned Wednesday.
The findings were revealed in a report by the European Court of Auditors on the Africa Emergency Trust Fund, a multibillion-euro program hastily set up in 2015 after more than a million migrants fleeing the war in Syria ended up on European shores, straining services in Italy and Greece.
The fund was set up to help address the root causes of migration in Africa, including poverty, conflict and unemployment, and initially had 1.8 billion euros ($2 billion) to distribute to hundreds of projects. Today, that figure has grown to about 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion).
The fund is administered by the European Commission, the EU’s powerful executive arm.
“Despite lessons learned, the commission still has not been able to identify and report on the most efficient and effective approaches to reducing irregular migration,” Bettina Jacobsen, the EU’s chief auditor in charge of the investigation, told reporters.
Jacobsen said the committee “should focus aid more thoroughly on what is really urgent and needed in particular regions and particular countries.”
She also said that “human rights risks were not adequately addressed by the Commission and there were weaknesses in the accuracy and sustainability of the findings reported.” Moreover, Brussels “lacked adequate procedures to record and follow up on allegations of human rights violations.”
The auditors were aware of 10 police officers who had reported possible human rights violations in various parts of Africa, but the commission only recorded one allegation. The auditors could not confirm whether that case was followed up.
Libya is one of the main departure points for people desperate to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, and how the fund is being used is also a focus of the report.
UN-appointed investigators said EU support for Libya’s migration service and coast guard “aided and abetted the commission of crimes, including crimes against humanity”, a charge the commission denies.
Auditors warned that Libya had failed to use funds and equipment to improve maritime surveillance and reduce deaths at sea. The International Organization for Migration estimates that around 30,000 people have been killed or gone missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea since 2014.
The report said EU-funded “equipment may be used by actors other than the intended beneficiaries” or that Libyan personnel trained by Europeans “may not adhere to the principle of do no harm.” Recipients of the funds may refuse monitors’ checks on how they are being spent.
In December, inspectors visited the site of a maritime rescue coordination centre off the Libyan coast. Italy was tasked with helping to set up the centre in Libya in 2017. Millions of euros were allocated to the work, and containers of equipment were sent, but seven years later it is still not up and running.
Under international rules governing the safety of life at sea (recognized and accepted by the EU), Libya must set up such a centre and staff it permanently, while Italy is the main coordinator of activity in Libyan waters and decides which ships should respond in case of an emergency.
Meanwhile, the committee largely accepted the report’s recommendations to improve the situation.
The committee acknowledged the need to “further strengthen capacity to identify and mitigate risks, including by defining specific activities and performance indicators in high-risk areas for human rights. This will be addressed by providing more detailed sectoral guidance materials and training.”
The Commission highlighted that as of last year, the fund had supported the voluntary repatriation of 73,215 migrants to their home countries. In the first half of 2023, 11,087 jobs had been created or supported, mainly in Guinea and Senegal, and 23,266 people had received skills training.
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