This conclusion is further confirmed by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) which considers Belize as a flag of convenience (20).

N. whereas the UfM’s secretariat needs to become the structure’s linchpin, whereas its effectiveness will depend on the ability of its staff to work independently and whereas the presence of a senior Israeli official and a senior Palestinian official cooperating within an international organisation at regional level is unprecedented and gives grounds for hope,

N. whereas the UfM's secretariat needs to become the structure's linchpin, whereas its effectiveness will depend on the ability of its staff to work independently and whereas the presence of a senior Israeli official and a senior Palestinian official cooperating within an international organisation at regional level is unprecedented and gives grounds for hope,

International Transport Workers Federation (ITF)

51. Recalls that irregular immigration is often operated by criminal networks which have, so far, proved to be more effective than common European action; is convinced that such networks are responsible for the death of hundreds of people whose lives are lost at sea every year; recalls that, in accordance with international obligations, Member States have a shared responsibility to save lives at sea; calls, therefore, on the Commission and on Council to redouble their efforts in the fight against organised crime, human trafficking and smuggling which occur in various parts of the EU, and particularly to try to dismantle all the networ ...[+++]ks by tackling not only the people smugglers, who are merely the visible linchpin, but those who, at the top of the ladder, derive the most advantage from these criminal operations;

In conclusion, there is one final reason why the Spanish tragedy has a European dimension: this is the unparalleled surge of international solidarity to which it gave rise among the workers and the common people, as well as among the most eminent European intellectuals; a solidarity strikingly illustrated by the International Brigades, composed of 40 000 volunteers from around fifty countries.