The Catalan Ombudsman has stressed the importance of the rights to life and subsistence in order to raise awareness among the international community of their share of responsibility before the death of thousands of people in the Mediterranean which must be considered as a severe humanitarian crisis.

Rafael Ribó, within the framework of his assigned competition in the defence and guarantee of human rights, has been writing these reflections up in a statement which underscores the fact that the current existing migration phenomenon in the south of Europe must be managed from both shores of the Mediterranean.

According to the Catalan Ombudsman, to prevent such tragedies, as the Lampedusa one, all Governments involved as well as the European Union must devote more resources and apply appropriate measures. He also recommends that more pedagogy on the matter is made so that the public opinion will be more aware of the drama that lies behind the immigration phenomenon.

The Catalan Ombudsman has forwarded this statement to the Catalan Parliament, to the Catalan Government, to the European Human Rights Commissioner, Mr. Nils Muiznieks, to the European Ombudsman, Mrs. Emily O’Reilly, to international ombudsman’s networks as the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI), to the AOM (Association of Mediterranean Ombudsman) and to ENOC (European Network of Ombudsman for Children) and has suggested that a international meeting to address the problems and provide solutions on this matter should be held.