EU should face court over its cruel policy on Mediterranean refugees

In 2014 the European Union and its member state Governments including Ireland decided to halt the Italian led rescue operation in the Mediterranean called Mare Nostrum, which had successfully rescued about 140,000 refugees fleeing poverty, famine, conflicts and human rights abuses in the Middle East and Africa.

The EU and other Western governments have played a significant role in the destabilisation and overthrow of governments across the Middle East thereby fuelling the refugee crisis. There are clear legal and human rights duties on all governments and international organisations to come to the aid and rescue of individuals in distress who are at immediate risk of death.

The decision by the EU to end Mare Nostrum amounts to a breach of human rights obligations and could arguably be a crime against humanity.