scholarly journals From “Angels” to “Vice Smugglers”: the Criminalization of Sea Rescue NGOs in Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenio Cusumano ◽  
Matteo Villa
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Irregular Migration ◽  
Pull Factor ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Criminal Investigations ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations

Abstract Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played a crucial role in conducting Search and Rescue (SAR) operations off the Libyan coast, assisting almost 120,000 migrants between 2014 and 2019. Their activities, however, have been increasingly criticized. The accusation that NGOs facilitate irregular migration has escalated into investigations by Italian and Maltese courts and various policy initiatives restricting non-governmental ships and their access to European ports. Although all NGOs investigated to date have been acquitted, the combination of criminal investigations and policy restrictions that has taken place in Italy since 2017 has severely hindered non-governmental SAR operations. Given the humanitarian repercussions of reducing NGOs’ presence at sea, the merits and shortcomings of the arguments underlying the criminalization of non-governmental maritime rescue warrant in-depth research. To that end, this article fulfils two interrelated tasks. First, it provides a genealogy of the accusation against NGOs and the ensuing combination of legal criminalization, policy restrictions, and social stigmatization in restraining their activities. Second, it uses quantitative data to show that empirically verifiable accusations like the claim that NGOs serve as a pull factor of migration, thereby causing more people to day at sea, are not supported by available evidence. By doing so, our study sheds new light onto the criminalization of humanitarianism and its implications.

scholarly journals El secuestro virtual en el continuum de la violencia. Visibilizar lo que se oscurece

Revista Trace ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Cristina Amescua Chávez
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Spiral Form ◽  
Sociedad Civil ◽  
Nous Examinons ◽  
Société Civile ◽  
Official Sources ◽  
Article Analyse

En este artículo se analizará el tema de la violencia como causa y consecuencia del secuestro virtual buscando integrar sus dimensiones tanto individuales o personales, como familiares y colectivas. Desde una perspectiva social se dará cuenta de las diversas interacciones entre los factores que se entrelazan en este nuevo fenómeno. La violencia será entendida aquí como un ciclo continuo que se reproduce a sí mismo en forma de espiral. Para el análisis se utilizarán datos cuantitativos recabados tanto en instancias gubernamentales como a través de organismos de la sociedad civil, así como información cualitativa proporcionada por un estudio de caso de un secuestro virtual.Abstract: This article analyzes violence both as a cause and as a consequence of virtual kidnapping seeking to integrate individual and collective dimensions. From a social perspective, visibility will be given to the several interactions present in this new phenomenon. Violence will be understood as a continuous cycle reproducing itself constantly but in a spiral form. The analysis will draw from quantitative data collected among official sources as well as non governmental organizations, but it will also include a qualitative perspective build a case study of a specific virtual kidnapping.Résumé : Cet article analyse la violence comme cause et effet du kidnapping virtuel, en prenant en compte ses dimensions individuelles et collectives. Dans une perspective sociale, nous examinons les diverses interactions et facteurs en jeu dans ce nouveau phénomène. La violence est ici comprise comme un cycle continu qui se reproduit luimême sous la forme d’une spirale ascendante. L’analyse part de données quantitatives provenant aussi bien d’institutions gouvernementales que d’organismes de la société civile, ainsi que de données qualitatives fournies par une étude de cas d’un kidnapping virtuel.

22. NGOs in world politics

2019 ◽  
pp. 349-364
Author(s):  
Jutta Joachim
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
World Politics ◽  
United Nations Security Council ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
International Level ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Peace And Security

This chapter examines the role of transnational non-governmental organizations (TNGOs) in world politics. It considers what distinguishes TNGOs from other actors in international politics, what types of influence NGOs exert in international relations, and whether TNGOs contribute to more democratic policy-making at the international level. The chapter also discusses the growing importance of TNGOs and presents two case studies that illustrate how they contribute to the emergence of new norms through their engagement with international governmental organizations (IGOs), provide assistance to those in need, but also highlight the diversity that exists among the organizations. The first is about the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 ‘Women, Peace, and Security’ to which TNGOs contributed in a significant manner, while the second is about the search and rescue missions of migrants which TNGOs undertake in the Mediterranean Sea. There is also an Opposing Opinions box that asks whether TNGOs contribute to more democracy at the international level.

scholarly journals The Role of NGOs in Search and Rescue Operations in the Context of the European Union Migration Crisis

2020 ◽  
pp. 77-91
Author(s):  
U. Stoliarova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
Immigration Issue

In the early 2010s due to the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, the European Union faced an unprecedented escalation of the migration problem, which put serious pressure on many EU mechanisms. The article analyzes Brussels’ response to the increase in the number of victims in the Mediterranean Sea during the migration crisis, which peaked in 2015. The adoption of new initiatives that were aimed at easing the immigration issue did not lead to the expected results. The EU struggled to cope with a rise in the number of migrants who sought to reach European shores. The real challenge for the arriving migrants was crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Amid the increase in unmanaged flows of refugees and regular shipwrecks that led to the death of many migrants, non-governmental organizations stepped out. The organization and conduct of search and rescue operations (SARs) by NGOs led to the emergence of a new type of SARs, non-state ones, since even large NGOs began to conduct such operations for the first time. The article examines the contribution of European non-governmental organizations to the provision of search and rescue operations, as well as analyzes the main problems and challenges that these NGOs faced while implementing such activities from 2014 to 2020. It is concluded that European non-governmental organizations have saved tens of thousands of lives of migrants and refugees, thus becoming an important element in the EU’s migration crisis settlement. At the same time, they faced a number of problems and challenges, including criticism from some EU member states, which considered the activities of NGOs as a pull-factor for new migrants.

scholarly journals Criminalizing solidarity: Search and rescue in a neo-colonial sea

2021 ◽  
pp. 239965442097931
Author(s):  
Ċetta Mainwaring ◽  
Daniela DeBono
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Legal Geographies ◽  
Central Mediterranean Sea ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Trade And Exchange

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rescued over 110,000 people in the Central Mediterranean Sea between 2015 and 2017. From 2017, EU member states and agencies increasingly criminalized these organizations, accusing them of ‘colluding with smugglers’ and acting as a pull factor. In this climate, as Italy, Malta and the EU increased cooperation with Libya to stop people from taking to the seas, many suspended their operations. This article explores the search and rescue efforts of NGOs in the Central Mediterranean Sea between 2014 and 2018. We examine the criminalization of this NGO activity and argue that it is made possible through an oscillating neo-colonial imagination of the sea as mare nostrum and mare nullius, our sea and nobody’s sea, respectively. We build on the work of other scholars who have pointed to the activation of the Mediterranean as ‘empty’ in response to migration flows, erasing the historical connections of colonialism, empire, trade, and exchange in the Mediterranean as well as the contemporary legal geographies that govern the space. Here, we go further to develop the idea of a neo-colonial sea, which is alternately imagined as empty and ‘European’. We explore how NGOs disrupt these depictions, as well as the disappearing figures of the migrant and refugee amidst the contestations between NGOs and states.

scholarly journals Humanitarianism as Politics: Civil Support Initiatives for Migrants in Milan’s Hub

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Sinatti
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Political Awareness ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Italian City ◽  
Insight Into

Humanitarianism is increasingly used to address migration in Europe, from search and rescue operations at sea to reception on land. Scholars often interpret humanitarianism as a means for states to depoliticize migration and prioritize securitization. In this article, I analyze perspectives on humanitarianism among civil society volunteers and workers who, alongside institutions, deliver humanitarian support to migrants. Civil initiatives in this field by independent volunteers, non-governmental organizations and charities have surged, thus shifting tasks traditionally under the responsibility of the state to non-state actors. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in and around the premises of the Hub (a center providing humanitarian assistance to migrants transiting in the Italian city of Milan), I show that engaging in such civil support initiatives raises the levels of political awareness and activism among ordinary citizens. Through insight into the daily actions, motivations and aims of the men and women operating at the Hub, I show that their involvement in humanitarian assistance marks the beginning of a personal journey in which they gradually conceive what they do as far from being in support of depoliticizing state securitization policies and rather as politically loaded.

scholarly journals Empowering Democracy Through Internetization

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Constantine E. Passaris
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
New Governance ◽  
Civics Education ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Governance Architecture

This policy brief explores the challenges and opportunities congruent with the advent of internetization on the democratic landscape. Internetization is a new word that I have coined to describe our contemporary empowerment through global outreach and electronic connectivity.  There is no denying that the 21st century has precipitated profound structural change and empowered democracy through digital capacity and electronic connectivity. This paper analyzes the impact of internetization on e-democracy, social media, civics education, non-governmental organizations and global outreach. It also addresses the consequences of internetization on cybersecurity threats, election tampering and the contemporary challenges associated with electronic voting. This policy brief concludes with a set of recommendations embracing a new governance architecture, adapting the machinery of governance to electronic capacity and a strategic list of public policy initiatives directed to enhance the role of internetization on the democratic landscape.

scholarly journals The effect of a company's innovation orientation culture on employee turnover among selected non-governmental organizations in Samburu, Kenya

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 150-155
Author(s):  
Julius Lentawa ◽  
Paul Gesimba ◽  
David Gichuhi
Keyword(s):  
Employee Turnover ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Junior Staff ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Creativity And Innovation

This paper examines the effect of a company's innovation orientation culture on employee turnover among selected non-governmental organizations in Samburu, Kenya. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 78 NGOs operating in Samburu County for the analysis, the study population comprised 11 senior management teams, 14 technical teams and 78 junior staff in 24 selected and active NGOs in Samburu. The analysis gathered both qualitative and quantitative data. A structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data and an interview guide was used to collect qualitative data. Thematic data analysis was used to interpret qualitative data, which included common terms, phrases, themes, and patterns. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics which includes frequencies, means, and standard deviation. Findings Results showed that innovation orientation is positively correlated with employee turnover (r=0.375, P=0.01). This supports Chow et al’s (2001) study which revealed that innovation orientation as part of an organization's culture has a significant effect on employee turnover. This study also discovered that an innovation orientation culture embedded in an NGO's ideology will help to reduce turnover because workers feel valued when their work is recognized for creativity and innovation.

Designed Intervention

2021 ◽  
pp. 93-120
Author(s):  
Séverine Autesserre
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
The World ◽  
International Aid Agencies

Chapter Four further explores the limitations of “Peace, Inc.”: the traditional way to end wars. United Nations peacekeepers, foreign diplomats, and the staff of many non-governmental organizations involved in conflict resolution share a specific way of seeing the world. They often assume that the only path to peace is through working with governments and national elites and mediating formal agreements between world leaders. As a result, most international aid agencies use a top-down strategy of intervention, ignoring the crucial role of local tensions in fueling violence. Foreign peacebuilders also regularly rely on other widely held beliefs, such as the notion that education, elections, and statebuilding always promote peace. Anecdotes from places as varied as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Timor-Leste, along with a detailed story of the massive international efforts in Congo, highlight the possibility for devastating consequences while explaining why these detrimental assumptions and this flawed intervention strategy nevertheless persist.

scholarly journals Partnership in Communities of Practice Towards Teachers’ Professional Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Adeola Folasade Akinyemi ◽  
Vuyisile Nkonki
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Teachers Professional Development ◽  
Higher Institutions

This study examined how partnership with international agencies, non-governmental organisations and experts from higher institutions of learning assist teachers’ in communities of learning towards their professional development. Mixed methods and concurrent triangulation research designs were adopted for this study. Seventy-nine respondents which comprises of principals, teachers, head of departments, cluster leaders, subject advisers and education district officials were purposively selected. Semi-structured questionnaire which has both open- and closed- ended questions as well as semi-structured interview which has both structured and unstructured interviews were the research instruments used to elicit information from the respondents. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively while quantitative data were analysed thematically from emerging themes. Findings revealed that greater percentage of high schools that participated in the study do not engage in partnership with international agencies, non-governmental organizations and experts from higher institutions in their communities of practice. However, few schools indicated that they enjoyed partnership from these organizations which had helped their teachers towards their professional development. Based on these findings, this study recommends that high school should try to engage in partnership programs especially with universities that are near to their school location to organise trainings, workshops and seminars for their teachers to serve as support measures for their professional development.

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