Koji Sekimizu, IMO’s Secretary-General
IMO Secretary-General welcomes 10-point EU plan ahead of an extraordinary European Council session on Thursday to address situation in the Mediterranean
IMO Secretary-General Koji Sekimizu has welcomed the 10 point plan of immediate actions to be taken in response to the crisis situation in the Mediterranean, adopted by EU Foreign and Interior Ministers. In his view, the 10-point plan represents progress towards his primary goal of preventing unsafe, overloaded craft from taking to sea in the first place. The inherent danger posed not only to the migrants onboard these unseaworthy vessels, but to the brave naval, coast guard and merchant seamen on the front lines of search and rescue, must be mitigated.
“Action needs to be taken against the unscrupulous criminals who organize these treacherous passages on unregulated and dangerously overcrowded vessels. And at the same time, there needs to be coordinated action to manage the flow of migrants so that they are not exploited and taken to sea in overladen and unsafe craft, ” the Secretary-General said.
