Press conference on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic approach to migration", kick-off of the discussions in the Civil Liberties Committee, in the EP in Brussels. Statements by Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT) and Kashetu KYENGE (S&D, IT), co-rapporteurs

Brussels

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

press conference

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

KYENGE, Cécile Kashetu (S&D, IT)

The situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic approach to migration", kick-off of the discussions in the LIBE Committee: extracts from the press conference by Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT) and Kashetu KYENGE (S&D, IT), rapporteurs

External shot of the EP building in Brussels.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT), Rapporteur, (On on-the-spot deportations of illegal immigrants in Melilla, Spain)"I think it is very claer that we will spend the next few months listening to people who come to us with problems that they would like us to address in this report. Anything that would mean or lead to somebody being denied protection before his asylum rights have been guaranteed then that is something that we are going to have to look into and we will always insist on Member-States upholding the international laws and the principle of non-refoulement."

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Kashetu KYENGE (S&amp;D, IT), Rapporteur, "We have to head towards the mutual recognition of the right of asylum, because this is the first point the states should work on. When the asylum status is recognised in one country there also should be the possibility of it being recognised in others."

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Kashetu KYENGE (S&amp;D, IT), Rapporteur, "I was in Lampedusa, seing how people were being fished out of the sea. I was in the government I was representing the government. We have to give an answer to this emergency to this tragedy that hasen't been looked at because, for a long time, numbers were not as imponent as they were in 2013. In any case, for me it meant that I feel completely impotent and frustrated in the sense that it's not a problem of a natural phenomenon regarding just one country."

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT), Rapporteur, "You have almost (a) unanimous agreement within the Parliament, cross-party support for Cecilia Wikstr&ouml;m's proposal to follow the court judgement and therefore allow for, let's say, tackling and puting the rights of the children as a priority of everything we do, and helping the most vulnerable persons that appear on our shores. The Council is in a completely opposite situation, opposite position."

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT), Rapporteur, "If we managed, politically and on the ground, to almost eradicate piracy off the Somali coast, can we not see waht resources we have currently, pending the outcome of this long negotiation, get to the Mediterranean and use those resources to save lives."

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT), Rapporteur, "I spent eight years working in the Council and I spent eight years working within this area. An d, what we have learnt over those years is that, as Cecile said, when you look at an individual angle of one subject then there is no way that you will have the overall idea of what the overall solution should be".

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Kashetu KYENGE (S&amp;D, IT), Rapporteur, "In Italy, some months ago, we had proposed operation Mare Nostrum that in one year had saved the lives of 150,000 people. In my opinion this operation was a medium-term one and this operation was not adecuately replaced by operation Triton."

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT), Rapporteur, "In 2014, the European Union registered close to 650,000 applications for international protection. This is an increase 40% when compared to 2013 and what we are seing is that, with the situation in Syria and with the ever-deteriorating situation in Lybia, this gives us a perspectivethat we must be prepared for our systems to continue to be challenged an we need to step up to the plate, address this issue head on, while ensuring that all our agencies have adecuate and proper resources in order to deal with the situation."