Airborne Monthly Factsheet August 2020

This factsheet outlines a summary of the distress cases witnessed in August 2020 by Sea-Watch’s Airborne crew with Moonbird. In August 2020 we flew 18 missions, with a total flight time of 81 hours and 43 minutes. We spotted around 704 persons in distress.

Overview of the distress cases, empty boats and dead bodies spotted

Maltese Search-and-Rescue (SAR) zone

• 3 distress cases were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard and disembarked in Italy
• 3 distress cases arrived presumably independently in Italy
• 1 distress case was rescued by the merchant vessel Maersk Etienne, not yet disembarked at the time of editorial deadline
• 1 distress case was rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta and disembarked in Malta
• 1 distress case was rescued by the independent rescue vessel Louise Michel, transferred to the Italian Coast Guard and the NGO vessel Sea-Watch 4, and disembarked in Italy
• 1 distress case was intercepted by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard and disembarked in Libya
• The outcome of 1 distress case is unclear
• Estimated number of persons in distress: around 530

Libyan Search-and-Rescue (SAR) zone

• 1 distress case was rescued by the NGO vessel Sea-Watch 4 and disembarked in Italy
• 1 distress case was rescued by the independent rescue vessel Louise Michel, transferred to the Italian Coast Guard and the NGO vessel Sea-Watch 4, and disembarked in Italy
• 1 distress case was intercepted by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard and disembarked in Libya
• The outcome of 3 distress cases remains unknown
• Estimated number of persons in distress: around 174

These missions highlight once again:

• the deadly consequences of European migration policies

• the systematic non-assistance of European Member States and the delegation of rescue operations to the so-called Libyan Coast Guard

• the involvement of merchant vessels in rescue operations due to the lack of a European sea rescue program

• the unjustified and systematic delays of European Member States to fulfill their obligation to conduct and coordinate sea rescue in their Search-and-Rescue (SAR) zones

• the need for NGO vessels in the Central Mediterranean in order to uphold the law and save human lives