MEPs of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) discuss with Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, and Hans LEIJTENS, Frontex's Executive director, about the migrant boat shipwreck off the coastal town of Pylos (Greece), where on June 14 at least 79 migrants drowned and hundreds more were missing.

Brussels

exchange of views

EU - Greece (T)

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

SIPPEL, Birgit (S&D, DE)

IN 'T VELD, Sophia (Renew, NL)

death of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea (T)

STRIK, Tineke (Greens/EFA, NL)

JOHANSSON, Ylva (SE, EC)

BIELOWSKI, Theresa (S&D, AT)

LEIJTENS, Hans

Exchange of views on the migrant boat shipwreck off the coast of Greece: extracts

Title: Exchange of views on the migrant boat shipwreck off the coast of Greece: extracts (EbS) 

Arrival of Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, and Hans LEIJTENS, Frontex's Executive director (2 shots)

SOUNDBITE (English), Birgit SIPPEL (S&amp;D, DE), Vice-President of the LIBE Committee, We all know that the issue today that on 14th of June this year, a boat sank in international waters off the coast of Greece after having allegedly left Libya on the 10th of June, carrying an estimated 400 to 700 people of different nationalities, including Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, Afghans and Palestinian Indians. The full death toll of this large scale disaster in the Mediterranean is still unknown.

SOUNDBITE (English), Birgit SIPPEL (S&amp;D, DE), Vice-President of the LIBE Committee, The LIBE committee has called upon the Greek authorities and the Commission to establish also as a matter of urgency an independent and transparent international investigation into the incident in order to examine the actions of the Greek authorities and Frontex and their compliance with European and international law, particularly legislation on search and rescue at sea.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, What it seems to be like there were smugglers from Egypt leaving from Egypt with an empty vessel, fishing vessel, this one to the eastern part of Libya where they picked up maybe 750 migrants. It seems like there were different depending on the status and how much they paid seems stacked. Male Pakistanis were on the bottom. Women and children in the middle. And those so could afford to pay a little bit more or have the highest status being a top. It seems have been a very, very overcrowded boat, and are round 110 survivors so far.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, We need to fight the smugglers together and to prevent people and invest in legal pathways. There are a lot of more things that we need to do on a European level when it comes to the coordination of search and rescue, when it comes to the new legislation that I have for special solidarity measures for the search and rescue cases. When it comes to the mandatory independent monitoring of the borders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Hans LEIJTENS, Frontex's Executive director, This year alone, Frontex has assisted in rescuing 20,000 lives each time a Frontex plane about comes across a boat in distress. It alerts all neighbouring rescue coordination centres to expedite the rescue operation and improve coordination. Commercial ships and NGOs in the area follow the same protocol. Ensuring a unified response. Locating a small boat in the vast sea is a daunting task. Once a Frontex plane locates one, it's remained vigilant, monitoring the area area until a rescue arrives or until it is forced to leave due to low fuel.

SOUNDBITE (English), Hans LEIJTENS, Frontex's Executive director, Frontex is committed to transparency in all its operations. We aim to keep all our stakeholders, including this committee, informed about our efforts to assist rescue operations at the European borders. I assure you that Frontex is dedicated to maintaining the security of our borders, but also upholding our humanitarian responsibilities. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure the safety and well-being of those who find themselves in distress at our borders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tineke STRIK (Greens/EFA, NL), -

SOUNDBITE (English), Theresa BIELOWSKI (S&amp;D, AT), -

SOUNDBITE (English), Sophia IN &apos;T VELD (Renew, NL), -