Maritime
3,000 Europe-Bound Migrants Die At Sea In 2021 – UN
The United Nations (UN) says over 3,000 people died in the Mediterranean and Atlantic sea trying to reach Europe last year.
According to the UN, this number is double the toll from 2020.
A fresh report from the UN refugee agency demanded urgent action to combat surging deaths among refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants trying to reach Europe.
In 2021, the report showed, a total of 3,077 people were lost while trying to cross the Mediterranean and Atlantic routes to the continent, portraying an up from 1,544 in 2020.
“Alarmingly, since the beginning of the year, an additional 478 people have also died or gone missing at sea”, Spokeswoman, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Shabia Mantoo, stated this to reporters in Geneva.
The report showed that for 2021, 1,924 people were reported dead or missing on the Central and Western Mediterranean routes, while another 1,153 perished on the North African maritime route to the Canary Islands.
“Most of the sea crossings took place in packed, unseaworthy, inflatable boats, many of which capsized or were deflated leading to the loss of life,” Mantoo said.
The sea journey from countries on the West African coast such as Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands was particularly perilous, she said, noting that the crossing could take up to 10 days.
“Many boats drifted off course or otherwise went missing without trace in these waters,” she said.
The increase in deaths at sea came amid a surge in the number of crossings.
The UNHCR report showed that 53,323 migrants arrived by boat in Italy last year, an 83 percent hike over 2020.
Also, 23,042 arrived in the Canary Islands, nearly the same number as a year earlier, it said.
The report also noted a 61 percent hike in departures from Tunisia compared to 2020, while departures from conflict-torn Libya shot up 150 percent.
They took the Central Mediterranean route, which is the world’s deadliest.
More than 17,000 people have died or gone missing along this route since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The UNHCR cautioned that land routes were also “highly dangerous. Even greater numbers may have died on journeys through the Sahara desert and remote border areas, in detention centres, or while in the captivity of smugglers or traffickers”.
Migrants along all of these routes face a “litany of abuses”, she said, pointing to “extrajudicial killings, unlawful and arbitrary detention, sexual and gender-based violence, forced labour, slavery and forced marriage.”
UNHCR warned that the coronavirus pandemic and related border closures had complicated movement further and had forced more desperate refugees and migrants to turn to smugglers to make their perilous journeys.
The Managing Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, has called for increased collaboration between the federal agency and state governments to enhance the safety and security of inland waterways transportation.
Speaking at a one-day consultative forum on safety and insecurities on inland waterways, organized by the Nigeria Transportation Commissioners’ Forum in Ilorin, Oyebamiji emphasized the critical role that safety and security play in fostering a thriving water transportation system.
The forum, themed “Prevalent Safety, Security Hazards and Practices in Inland Waterways: Passenger Transport Safety in Ilorin, Kwara State”, sought to address the pressing issues facing the inland waterways sector.
Oyebamiji acknowledged the ongoing efforts by NIWA to improve safety, such as the recent unveiling of the transportation code for public use, the inauguration of several operational assets including survey boats, gunboats, water ambulances, and a passenger ferry.
He also noted that safety campaigns have been launched across all operational bases, targeting local communities in their native languages.
The NIWA boss stated the support from the National Assembly, including the ongoing discussions on establishing coastal guards and the attention safety and security on inland waterways have received from the House Committee on Inland Waterways.
In his closing remarks, Oyebamiji appealed to the Commissioners for Transportation across relevant states to collaborate with NIWA in areas such as training, safety campaigns, infrastructure development, and financial empowerment.
He stressed that while the challenges are significant, they are surmountable through collective action.
The Federal Government has conveyed its support for the establishment of the National Coast Guard.
The Government also commended the proponents of the bill for having the hindsight to initiate a course of action that, when passed, will be the catalyst needed in unlocking the nation’s maritime potential.
In a statement by the Head of Press, and Public Relations for the ministry, Muhammad Tahir Zakari, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, was reported to have made this known at the National Assembly complex at the 1-Day Public Hearing on National Coast Guard Bill (NCG).
The statement stated that the bill when passed, will guarantee maritime safety, sustainable marine resource development and enhance economic growth.
Highlighting the major need for the National Coast Guard, the Minister identified: Maritime safety; Environmental protection through enforcing environmental regulations and conservation of marine ecosystems; and Enforcement of civil maritime laws to uphold laws governing civil maritime activities and enforce fishing regulations while preventing illegal exploitation.
It also include search and rescue to maritime emergencies and also conduct timely search and rescue operations.
He cited a 2009 publication by the African Centre for Strategic Studies, which noted that 15 of the 21 independent maritime nations in sub-Saharan Africa have dedicated coast guards and identify themselves as such.
Despite this, none of these nations have Nigeria’s population or the extent of its inland waterways and coastline.
While acknowledging the significant role of the Nigerian Navy in safeguarding the Nigerian maritime space following the collaborative effort with the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in the Deep Blue Project, which has shown great results with zero piracy in Nigeria’s territorial water in the last three years.
He, however, stressed the need for the National Coast Guard to complement the efforts of the Nigerian Navy in playing a critical role in preventing accidents, crime, and other threats to maritime activities
“A vast coastline of 850 km, the equivalent of 10,000 km in two ways. It is also a place of rich and diverse economic sources.
“While these opportunities are promising, they also present challenges such as pollution, overfishing, and unsustainable use of marine resources. The proposed National Coast Guard is equipped to tackle these issues”, he stated.
He urged the Senate and the National Assembly to lend their full support to the bill, noting that, “Nigeria Coast Guard will act as a vital complement to the Navy, of fostering a safe and sustainable maritime environment”.
He appealed for the establishment of a flexible, adaptive implementation strategy that would evolve into a midwife for the bill to succeed, while urging those with reservations to see the pressing need of the institution.
Earlier during the hearing, the President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio, commended members of the Committee on Marine and Transport for their unwavering dedication in piloting the initiative and advocating for the establishment of the National Coast Guard Bill.
Akpabio, represented by Sen. Akintunde Yunus, said the essence of the bill was to make critical decisions that will guarantee the safety of the nation’s waterways and protect the marine resources.
He stated that “the establishment of the National Coast Guard is not merely a legislative formality, but a dire necessity”.
Speaking also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Marine and Transport, Sen. Sanni Eshinlokun, said the Bill was first read in the Senate on the 3rd of October while the Senate at its plenary deliberated on the General Principles of the Bill.
Senator Eshinlokun said, “The Bill was read for the second time and referred to the Senate Committee on Marine Transport for further legislative action.
Former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barr. Hassan Bello, has charged the Federal Government not to designate any of its agencies as the lead agency to drive the blue economy if it actually wants Nigeria to make progress in the sector.
Bello, who made this call in his remarks at the 10th anniversary, lecture and awards of the Primetime Reporters in Lagos, midweek, advised the Federal Government to avoid the mistake made during the Cabotage era when it designated an agency as lead agency and the rest was now history.
He said for the sector to succeed, it required everyone’s contribution, urging the Minister to allow the private sector to drive the blue economy.
According to him, “Two things which we must be very careful about is to make.mistake, like we did with cabotage. If we remember carefully, Cabotage was coastal and Inland shipping, but that inland shipping was not emphasized.
“It was just for supply of oil and gas to the mother vessel, we couldn’t trade as we were doing from Asaba to Baro in Niger State, or carry cement or even petroleum products. So, we cannot restrict that to customs.
“Secondly, don’t give the Blue Economy to an agency to say it is the lead agency because everybody must have contributions to the Blue Economy. As we want to do, we have seen agencies struggling to have seminars on Blue Economy, it’s not even a government thing.
“Allow the private sector to take over this blue economy, don’t create fantastic departments and overload into the private sector. This is what is our problem.
“When we had the Cabotage, it was a NIMASA thing and when you talk about Cabotage, no! don’t go there, what is your own with Cabotage? So, Cabotage was colonized, the Blue Economy should not be colonized. We should have the ramification of that Blue Economy to make sure that everything trickles down”.
He however, noted that there had been a lot of progress by the various organs of government even before the designation of the Blue Economy Ministry saying, “Blue Economy has always been there just as we had the red economy, which is characterized by China’s quest for export for state directed economy.
“We even have the grey economy, which is that which is informal. We have the green economy and all shades of economy. So, it’s not new that we have the Blue Economy, what has been the call by stakeholders is for us to have a ministry that will cater for transportation and transportation is a cardinal or even the paramount part of the Blue Economy.
“I know we have sustainable use of ocean resources and many other things, but when you talk about the Blue Economy, the central point is the use of ocean and the inland waterways and other resources for diversification of our economy as the Convener has said”.
“We have to be conscious, concerted and even calculated to make sure that it works for us. It’s not just fancy thing that there’s a ministry for blue economy. There must be active participation of stakeholders and the involvement of the private sector to harness the resources and not anything fancy or pretentious. The government must involve the private sector.
By: Stories by Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos