scholarly journals Uncertainty, Alert and Distress: The Precarious Position of NGO Search and Rescue Operations in the Central Mediterranean

2017 ◽  
pp. 29-70
Author(s):  
Adam Smith
Keyword(s):  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Central Mediterranean

Rescuing Migrants in the Central Mediterranean: The Emergence of a New Civil Humanitarianism at the Maritime Border

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-455
Author(s):  
Marta Esperti
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Meanings ◽  
Humanitarian Space ◽  
First Arrival

The Central Mediterranean is the most deadly body of water in the Mediterranean Sea with at least 15,062 fatalities recorded by International Organization of Migration between 2014 and 2018. This article aims at highlighting the rise of a variety of new civil society actors engaged in the rescue of people undertaking dangerous journeys across the sea in the attempt of reaching the southern European shores. The peculiarity of the humanitarian space at sea and its political relevance are pointed out to illustrate the unfolding of the maritime border management on the Central Mediterranean route and its relation with the activity of the civil society rescue vessels. The theoretical aspiration of the article is to question the role of a proactive civil humanitarianism at sea, discussing the emergence of different political and social meanings around humanitarianism at the EU’s southern maritime border. In recent years, the increasing presence of new citizens-based organizations at sea challenges the nexus between humanitarian and emergency approaches adopted to implement security-oriented policies. This essay draws on the findings of a broader comparative work on a variety of civil society actors engaged in the search and rescue operations on the maritime route between Libya and Europe, focusing in particular on Italy as country of first arrival. The fieldwork covers a period of time going between 2016 and 2018. The research methodology is built on a multisited ethnography, the conduct of semidirective and informal interviews with both state and nonstate actors, and the analysis of various reports unraveling the social and political tensions around rescue at sea on the Central Mediterranean route.

From Humanitarian Rescue to Border Security: Managing Migration in the Central Mediterranean

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-485
Author(s):  
Gemma Marolda Gloninger
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Aggregate Data ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Border Security ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Humanitarian Principle

Abstract While images of boats in distress, overflowing with migrants in the Central Mediterranean, flash on television screens and front pages of Italian and European newspapers, search and rescue (SAR) missions continue to draw attention. This article takes a look at migratory flows across the Central Mediterranean from 2012 to 2018 and focuses on the response of governmental, inter-governmental, and non-governmental actors rescuing lives at sea. Using aggregate data on migrants’ sea arrivals and deaths as well as official documents from the UNHRC, the European Union, Italy’s Ministry of Interior, and NGOs, this study investigates 1) how different actors have responded to migratory flows across the Central Mediterranean, and 2) how actors’ narratives and response have impacted the situation at sea. The study finds that, although all three actors act on the humanitarian principle ‘to save lives,’ their narratives and response diverge as the intensity of sea arrivals persists.

Governing the Central Mediterranean through Indirect Rule: Tracing the Effects of the Recognition of Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Tripoli

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiri Santer
Keyword(s):  
Coast Guard ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Border Zone ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
International Maritime Organisation ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Maritime Law ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Vast Area ◽  
Indirect Rule

Abstract The gradual empowerment of the Libyan Coast Guard through EU training and funding has introduced them as a new actor in the Central Mediterranean amongst other civil and military actors intervening to prevent loss of life at sea. This article examines the contested recognition of the authority of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Tripoli over the newly formalized Libyan Search and Rescue Region. It argues that the recognition of the Libyan coordination authority made by the International Maritime Organisation, has changed the way the international waters separating Libya and Europe are governed. Through the close analysis of three ethnographic vignettes depicting instances of rescue of migrants by an NGO vessel, this article illustrates how the Italian authorities are able to exercise control over this vast area indirectly via the formalization of the Libyan authority and concomitantly imped the operations of civil rescue NGO boats in the zone. This formalization enables Italian authorities (and their EU counterparts) to establish a form of indirect governance in this liminal border zone that clashes with other preceding legal orders which regulate distress cases at sea, i.e. international maritime law.

scholarly journals Taking Onboard the Issue of Disembarkation

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-517
Author(s):  
Jasper van Berckel Smit
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
New System

Abstract Disembarkation of rescued refugees is increasingly denied by Mediterranean States, as disembarkation triggers obligations of refugee reception in the absence of a distribution mechanism. This article assesses the international law of the sea to answer the question why a distributive mechanism is needed to provide for a predictable solution for disembarkation of rescued refugees in the Mediterranean. It concludes that, due to States’ shared obligation to allow disembarkation of seaborne refugees and uncertainties over ill-defined essential concepts and responsibilities, States enjoy much discretion to securitize maritime migration. It frustrates search and rescue (SAR). A successful way to reestablish the integrity and effectiveness of the SAR regime is to create an effective and foreseeable relocation mechanism. Finally, this article’s critical analysis of the Malta declaration—which failed to resolve the stalemate in the central Mediterranean—provides for valuable lessons towards a new system of responsibility-sharing in Europe.

scholarly journals Health conditions of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers on search and rescue vessels on the central Mediterranean Sea, 2016–2019: a retrospective analysis

BMJ Open ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. e053661
Author(s):  
Elburg van Boetzelaer ◽  
Adolphe Fotso ◽  
Ilina Angelova ◽  
Geke Huisman ◽  
Trygve Thorson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Female Population ◽  
Acute Injuries ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

ObjectivesThis study will contribute to the systematic epidemiological description of morbidities among migrants, refugees and asylum seekers when crossing the Mediterranean Sea.SettingSince 2015, Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) has conducted search and rescue activities on the Mediterranean Sea to save lives, provide medical services, to witness and to speak out.ParticipantsBetween November 2016 and December 2019, MSF rescued 22 966 migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.Primary and secondary outcome measuresWe conducted retrospective data analysis of data collected between January 2016 and December 2019 as part of routine monitoring of the MSF’s healthcare services for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers on two search and rescue vessels.ResultsMSF conducted 12 438 outpatient consultations and 853 sexual and reproductive health consultations (24.9% of female population, 853/3420) and documented 287 consultations for sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The most frequently diagnosed health conditions among children aged 5 years or older and adults were skin conditions (30.6%, 5475/17 869), motion sickness (28.6%, 5116/17 869), headache (15.4%, 2 748/17 869) and acute injuries (5.7%, 1013/17 869). Of acute injuries, 44.7% were non-violence-related injuries (453/1013), 30.1% were fuel burns (297/1013) and 25.4% were violence-related injuries (257/1013).ConclusionThe limited testing and diagnostics capacity of the outpatient department, space limitations, stigma and the generally short length of stay of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers on the ships have likely led to an underestimation of morbidities, including mental health conditions and SGBV. The main diagnoses on board were directly related to journey on land and sea and stay in Libya. We conclude that this population may be relatively young and healthy but displays significant journey-related illnesses and includes migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who have suffered significant violence during their transit and need urgent access to essential services and protection in a place of safety on land.

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.

Heroes or criminals? The legitimacy of humanitarian organizations rescuing lives in the Central Mediterranean Sea after 2017

2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Catena Mancuso ◽  
Valentina Signorelli
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
News Media ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
International News ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
Central Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Migration Crisis

Since late 2016, NGOs operating in the Mediterranean have been at the centre of a campaign of delegitimization and criminalization culminating with former Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini’s 2018 NGO ban, which de facto erased the presence of humanitarian search and rescue operations and left the national coastguards to deal with an unprecedented migration crisis. Drawing upon discourse analysis of Italian and international news media articles and informed by semi-structured interviews with NGO representatives, this study investigates the implications of such media-driven public hostility. The results are threefold: first, the climate of suspicion surrounding NGOs has damaged them profoundly and led to a dramatic increase in deaths. Consequently, second, NGO’s ability to present themselves publicly as legitimate has been heavily limited. Last, it is fundamental to investigate the range of legitimation strategies all organizations can use when victims of a media-led scandal or a smear campaign are legitimized by political institutions.

scholarly journals The Appeal of Civil Disobedience in the Central Mediterranean

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-61
Author(s):  
Klaus Neumann
Keyword(s):  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Search And Rescue ◽  
First Century ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Central Mediterranean ◽  
Public Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Mediterranean

The European responses to irregularised migrants in the second decade of the twenty-first century have been qualitatively new not so much because of the often-celebrated cultures of hospitality in countries such as Germany and Sweden, but because of acts of solidarity that have challenged the prerogative of nation-states to control access to their territory. I discuss elements of the public response in Germany to the criminalisation of one such act, the search and rescue (SAR) operation of the Sea-Watch 3 in the Central Mediterranean in June 2019, which led to the arrest of the ship’s captain, Carola Rackete, by Italian authorities. I argue that while the response to Rackete’s arrest was unprecedented, it built upon a year-long campaign in support of private SAR missions in the Mediterranean, which drew on the discourse of rights and was therefore not reliant on a short-term outpouring of compassion. Rackete’s supporters have also been energised by alternative visions of Europe, and by the vitriol reserved for her by followers of the populist far right.

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