Download Open Letter Dear Ursula von der Leyen, With great disappointment we could not find the announcement of a European Search and Rescue operation in the Pact on Migration, despite the fact that, as underlined in your State of the Union speech: “saving lives at sea is not optional”. We consider that the safety and…
Following a Port State Control carried out by the Italian authorities on Saturday, the “Sea-Watch 4 powered by United4Rescue” is under an administrative blockade. Sea-Watch, United4Rescue and Doctors Without Borders strongly condemn the blockade of yet another civil rescue vessel and demand an immediate end of the criminalization of civil sea rescue operations. “The flimsy…
#CrimesOfMalta: The Maltese Rescue Coordination Centre refuses its duty to coordinate rescues of people in distress at sea in its own search and rescue zone, deliberately accepting the risk of endangering human life. 17 to 19 June 2020: A boat with 25 people on board with no life vests is drifting in the…
In the first half of 2020, Maltese authorities were implicated in multiple failures to respect and protect the rights of refugees and migrants at sea. Under their coordination, people were pushed back to Libya, a country at war where refugees and migrants are systematically abused. Delays in attending to distress calls exposed people to the…
Today, twelve days after the first conducted rescue of this mission, the Sea-Watch 4 was able to disembark 353 survivors in Palermo, Italy. European states continue to refuse to rescue shipwrecked people and instead instruct civilian actors to assist in rescues. Once in port, civil actors have to fear repression and the confiscation of their…
