EU Parliament: Metsola commemorates Lampedusa shipwreck. “European response needed on Asylum and Migration Pact”

(Strasbourg) “Today marks 10 years since the Lampedusa shipwreck. A terrible tragedy that claimed the lives of over 360 people. And the sad truth is that the migrant shipwreck of 2013 is far from being an isolated tragedy. The cemetery of the Mediterranean has claimed the lives of thousands more women, children and men since then”, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said in Strasbourg today as she commemorated the 10th anniversary of the shipwreck off the coast of the Mediterranean island. “The recent emergencies on the island of Lampedusa, as well as in other neighbouring countries, serve as a reminder that migration is our generation’s challenge. Now Europe must respond in a way that is fair and humane with those who are seeking protection, that is firm with those who are not eligible, and that is strong with criminal networks who are still exploiting the vulnerable”. And she went on to stress: “With only half a year before the end of our mandate, we need an agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on the Asylum and Migration Pact. And we will discuss the urgency of the package’s adoption tomorrow in this Hemicycle”. The European Parliament’s commitment “to finding a way forward remains unwavering. For all those who lost their lives, for all the victims of exploitation, for all those families never to be reunited”.
Gianni Borsa