The European Union has revealed its plans following the latest tragedy in which around 900 mostly African and North African migrants drowned in the Mediterranean while attempting to reach Europe. This latest repercussion of colonial exploitation has reverberated internationally. European leaders have announced plans that could justify further military intervention in North Africa. Their aim is to prevent migrants from reaching safety in Europe, rather than genuinely helping to deal with the humanitarian crisis and the problem of human trafficking. During NATO's intervention and forced regime change in Libya in 2011, which led to the death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, it was said that Gaddafi's removal would end attempts by migrants to reach Europe. But the result of the imperialist violence in Libya, which was spearheaded by several European nations, was to unleash atrocities in the country. Militias specifically targeted Africans who had remained in the country, now burdened with the “mercenary” tag they were given by the mainstream media. The unfolding tragedies of the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean is another example of how the mainstream media in the EU and the US continues to foment distorted narratives that ultimately enable governments to create more victims away from the scrutiny that currently surrounds the Mediterranean. If migrants are murdered in Libya, or stranded in the desert on Libya's borders, European leaders will not have to deal with the evidence in the Mediterranean that brings their heinous crimes closer to home. The NATO coalition that created a failed state in Libya, and other countries that supported the intervention and offered diplomatic engagement, has clearly adopted the convenient practice of erasing memory, presenting the tragedies since as purely an issue of human trafficking and divested of political ramifications. There will probably be no opposition to the hypocritical scheme being presented by the EU to deal with the drowning of migrants. After all, despite its role in destroying Libya, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 “for over six decades [of having] contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.” It is worth noting the reason for which the prize, which has also been awarded to human rights violators like US President Barack Obama, was awarded to the EU. During a recent meeting in Rome, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat continued with their rhetoric about European intentions. In a statement that was the most shameless propaganda, Renzi said, “We are facing a serious humanitarian crisis that requires a solid response from the international community. We are facing a new slave trade and new slave traders. We are going back in time when people made money from human life. That is what is happening now in North Africa.” RHETORIC OF IMPUNITY: Muscat also engaged in his usual hyperbole. “We need to secure Libya's borders and break the back of the criminal network,” he said. Insisting that he was not advocating a new invasion of Libya or a peacekeeping mission in the country, Muscat added, “We are talking about direct interventions to target these networks.” The now-defunct Operation Mare Nostrum, launched in October 2013 by the Italian government, has been credited with saving thousands of migrants' lives. But the statistics reveal the reality of such programmes. A look at the wider framework also shows a cycle of colonial ramifications and foreign interventions that necessitate additional military schemes as remedies. The humanitarian veneer attributed to Operation Mare Nostrum only serves to highlight the EU's hypocritical and selective criteria when it comes to destroying countries and later attempting to salvage some semblance of a reputation by saving a very few lives. The European Council statement on the migrant drownings also provides an insight into the military cycle that has characterised humanitarian aid and the EU's collaboration with institutions such as the UN that approved the NATO intervention in Libya. The statement says that the EU “will actively support all UN-led efforts towards re-establishing government authority in Libya,” revealing how the EU has distorted both the NATO intervention and the problems faced by migrants. The EU has proposed strengthening its presence at sea, fighting traffickers, preventing “illegal migration” flows and reinforcing internal solidarity. As usual, the burden of illegality is placed upon the migrants who are exercising their right to seek asylum, as opposed to the EU's culpability in exacerbating the migrants' plight by bombing Libya and setting the scene for a failed state that commits extreme violence on a daily basis. THE SCENE OF THE CRIME: The EU response, which also includes repatriation, provides it with a framework to free the Mediterranean from scrutiny. But it fails to address, and indeed it upholds, the chaos created by NATO and the UN. The targeting of traffickers as a network divested of political connections simplifies the complex links between foreign intervention and increased migration as a consequence of the violence approved by international institutions. Moreover, it validates the NATO intervention in Libya and fails to acknowledge that the migrants are facing additional hardships as a result of the regime change. Despite the evidence coming out of the country, the UN has still not declared Libya a failed state, preferring instead to continue a futile dialogue with representatives of the militias who, together with NATO, are responsible for the country's present crisis. Securing the Mediterranean through further military intervention and surveillance, the latter a contribution by Britain, which intends to send drones as part of search and rescue operations, is unlikely to stop the traffickers. Instead, different routes will be used, creating a scenario in which the same people will remain exploited but responsibility will be conveniently shifted to others on new routes and destinations. This should be seen as evidence of Europe's hypocrisy. Combating human trafficking has become the latest euphemism for collective impunity. The aim is to reclaim the Mediterranean as a sea devoid of evidence, pointing to Europe's collaboration in endorsing and maintaining violence. The humanitarian issue has long been rendered redundant. Migrants drowning off Europe's southern shores are a stain on the region. Conversely, forcing traffickers to change routes and bringing about a situation in which migrants are murdered in Libya or stranded in the desert after repatriation, will bolster the EU's credibility. The stench of the blood of migrants incarcerated in other territories because of the EU's military policies cannot be allowed to infiltrate the Fortress Europe it is so keen to preserve. The writer is an independent researcher specialising in the struggle for memory in Chile and Palestine.
