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Italy bans human rights monitoring over the Mediterranean

The Italian aviation authority ENAC is attempting to prevent the documentation of human rights violations in the Mediterranean. On Monday, the authority published an order banning the use of NGO aircraft over the Mediterranean. Sea-Watch is nevertheless continuing its monitoring flights and took off from Lampedusa airport shortly after 1 p.m. today.   March 2024:…

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Airborne Quarterly Factsheet January to March 2024

Download Full Report   This factsheet outlines a summary of the distress cases witnessed January – March 2024 by Airborne with Seabird 1 and Seabird 2.1 In January – March we conducted 40 operations, with a total flight time of 205 hours and 38 minutes. We spotted around 2.755 persons in distress aboard 47 different…

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EU Court: Frontex wrongfully withholds evidence

Today, Wednesday, the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg ruled in the Sea-Watch v Frontex case. While failing to establish transparency and accountability, the Court found that Frontex wrongfully kept more than 100 photos secret. These could prove the border agency’s involvement in a human rights violation in the Mediterranean. In April 2022, Sea-Watch, with…

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Sea-Watch vs. Frontex

On Wednesday, the 24th of April 2024, the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg ruled in the Sea-Watch v Frontex case. While failing to establish transparency and accountability, the Court found that Frontex wrongfully kept more than 100 photos secret. These could prove the border agency’s involvement in a human rights violation in…

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Italy escalates obstruction of civil search and rescue

Within the last week, the Italian government has detained three NGO rescue ships flying the German flag. The Humanity 1, the Sea-Watch 5 and the Sea-Eye 4 are being prevented from carrying out their life-saving work on the basis of false accusations. For the first time, the Italian government has blocked one of the ships,…

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