«Are NGOs a factor of attraction for migrants? There are no facts to prove it. I don't know if the migrants think it's worth the risk because there is a humanitarian ship. If I were them I wouldn't risk getting on boats built in 24 hours." This was said by the executive director of Frontex, Hans Leijtens, in a hearing at the Schengen Committee, effectively responding to those who believe that the presence and rescue activity of NGO boats in the Mediterranean are an incentive factor for migrations from North Africa to the 'Europe.
For Leijtens, the non-governmental organizations involved with their ships in the Mediterranean to provide assistance to the "boats" of migrants trying to reach Europe «are convinced that they are doing the right thing but cannot carry out their activities as independent entities in the central Mediterranean . There must be trust."
For this reason, he concluded, "if they listen to the maritime rescue coordination centers and do not act on their own, they can help."
Frontex is the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and was founded in 2004 to assist EU Member States and Schengen associated countries in protecting the external borders of the Union's area of free movement.
(Unioneonline/lf)
