Latest news with #SOSHumanity
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
Germany to cut funds for Mediterranean migrant rescues, sparking outcry
BERLIN, June 26 — Germany's conservative-led government will stop funding groups that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, a foreign ministry source said Wednesday, prompting opposition parties to warn that the decision could worsen a 'humanitarian crisis'. 'The federal government does not plan to provide further financial support to non-governmental organisations involved in civilian sea rescue,' the source told AFP. The foreign ministry under the previous coalition, headed by the Greens minister Annalena Baerbock, had provided substantial financial support for NGOs that rescue migrants seeking to head to Europe from Africa, often in rickety boats. That had drawn criticism from the centre-right CDU party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz that took power in May, and sparked a row with Rome since many of the rescued migrants were brought ashore in Italy. In 2024, the German government provided €2 million (RM9.9 million) in funding to organisations including SOS Humanity and SOS Mediterranee for conducting rescues of migrants who ran into trouble in the Mediterranean, the ministry source said. In the first quarter of this year, sea rescue NGOs received about €900,000 in government funding, it said. The withdrawal of funding comes as Merz's new government pursues a crackdown on irregular immigration, seeking to combat the growing appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The Green party criticised the move as a 'disastrous decision by the CDU' and its junior coalition partner, the centre-left SPD. 'The coalition is predictably exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and causing human suffering,' Greens lawmaker Britta Hasselmann told AFP. Gorden Isler, chairman of the sea rescue NGO Sea-Eye, said the move sent a 'catastrophic signal'. Financial support for Sea-Eye had helped the group conduct 'missions and saved lives. Now we might have to remain in port despite emergencies at sea,' he said. — AFP
Straits Times
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Mediterranean rescuers say saved 175,000 people since 2015
Migrants gather at the port of the village of Sfakia, following a rescue operation at open sea, on the island of Crete, Greece, on May 28. PHOTO: REUTERS BERLIN - Maritime rescue organisations said on June 18 they had pulled more than 175,000 people from the Mediterranean over the past 10 years, as waves of migrants sought to use the dangerous sea route to reach Europe. The group of 21 NGOS active in the region estimated that at least 28,932 people had died while trying to cross the sea since 2015. The majority had died in the central Mediterranean – waters between between Libya, Tunisia, Italy and Malta – Mr Mirka Schaefer of German NGO SOS Humanity told a Berlin press conference. In that area, the equivalent of five adults and one child lost their lives every day over the past decade, she said. The number of unrecorded cases was likely to be 'significantly higher', she added. Of the 21 organisations currently engaged in maritime rescue in the region, 10 of them are based in Germany. Between them the groups operate 15 boats, four sail ships and four planes. The organisations have frequently clashed with authorities over their rescue operations, which were launched as Europe's migration crisis broke out in 2015, when hundreds of thousands headed to the continent, mostly from the Middle East. In Italy the current government has vowed to end crossings and attacked NGOs for creating a 'pull factor' that encourages departures, something migration observers say is unproven. Ms Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government has passed laws requiring rescue ships to return to a designated port, a measure NGOs say is contrary to maritime law. 'The pressure on us is growing,' Mr Schaefer said, criticising a lack of support from the German government. The rescue organisations were calling on Berlin to support 'an effective, coordinated sea rescue program, fully funded by the EU', Sea Watch spokeswoman Giulia Messmer said at the press conference. The proposal, which had been sent to the German government and to the European Commission, called for the EU to spend between €108 million (S$159.55 million) and €240 million a year on rescue patrols and arrival centres. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Sun
18-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Mediterranean rescuers say saved 175,000 people since 2015
BERLIN: Maritime rescue organisations said Wednesday they had pulled more than 175,000 people from the Mediterranean over the past 10 years, as waves of migrants sought to use the dangerous sea route to reach Europe. The group of 21 NGOS active in the region estimated that at least 28,932 people had died while trying to cross the sea since 2015. The majority had died in the central Mediterranean -- waters between between Libya, Tunisia, Italy and Malta -- Mirka Schaefer of German NGO SOS Humanity told a Berlin press conference. In that area, the equivalent of five adults and one child lost their lives every day over the past decade, she said. The number of unrecorded cases was likely to be 'significantly higher', she added. Of the 21 organisations currently engaged in maritime rescue in the region, 10 of them are based in Germany. Between them the groups operate 15 boats, four sail ships and four planes. The organisations have frequently clashed with authorities over their rescue operations, which were launched as Europe's migration crisis broke out in 2015, when hundreds of thousands headed to the continent, mostly from the Middle East. In Italy the current government has vowed to end crossings and attacked NGOs for creating a 'pull factor' that encourages departures, something migration observers say is unproven. Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government has passed laws requiring rescue ships to return to a designated port, a measure NGOs say is contrary to maritime law. 'The pressure on us is growing,' Schaefer said, criticising a lack of support from the German government. The rescue organisations were calling on Berlin to support 'an effective, coordinated sea rescue program, fully funded by the EU', Sea Watch spokeswoman Giulia Messmer said at the press conference. The proposal, which had been sent to the German government and to the European Commission, called for the EU to spend between 108-240 million euros ($124-276 million) a year on rescue patrols and arrival centres.
Arab News
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Mediterranean rescuers say saved 175,000 people since 2015
BERLIN: Maritime rescue organizations said Wednesday they had pulled more than 175,000 people from the Mediterranean over the past 10 years, as waves of migrants sought to use the dangerous sea route to reach Europe. The group of 21 NGOS active in the region estimated that at least 28,932 people had died while trying to cross the sea since 2015. The majority had died in the central Mediterranean – waters between Libya, Tunisia, Italy and Malta – Mirka Schaefer of German NGO SOS Humanity told a Berlin press conference. In that area, the equivalent of five adults and one child lost their lives every day over the past decade, she said. The number of unrecorded cases was likely to be 'significantly higher,' she added. Of the 21 organizations currently engaged in maritime rescue in the region, 10 of them are based in Germany. Between them the groups operate 15 boats, four sail ships and four planes. The organizations have frequently clashed with authorities over their rescue operations, which were launched as Europe's migration crisis broke out in 2015, when hundreds of thousands headed to the continent, mostly from the Middle East. In Italy the current government has vowed to end crossings and attacked NGOs for creating a 'pull factor' that encourages departures, something migration observers say is unproven. Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government has passed laws requiring rescue ships to return to a designated port, a measure NGOs say is contrary to maritime law. 'The pressure on us is growing,' Schaefer said, criticizing a lack of support from the German government. The rescue organizations were calling on Berlin to support 'an effective, coordinated sea rescue program, fully funded by the EU,' Sea Watch spokeswoman Giulia Messmer said at the press conference. The proposal, which had been sent to the German government and to the European Commission, called for the EU to spend between €108 million-€240 million ($124 million-$276 million) a year on rescue patrols and arrival centers.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Mediterranean migrant rescues suffer under lacking EU policy
"We rescued 68 people from two unsuitable boats on the night of May 1st," Marie Michel, a crew member of the sea rescue organization , reported at a press conference marking the group's 10th anniversary. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "Both boats were in the Libyan search and rescue zone at the time, but the Libyan rescue coordination center did not coordinate any of these rescues but said that they are not responsible," she added. In Michel's view, this sums up how the European Union has successively outsourced responsibility for rescuing people from drowning in the Mediterranean to civilian organizations for more than a decade. According to the , almost 32,000 refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean since 2014. This year alone, 500 have drowned, so far. Controversial migration deals Agreements worth hundreds of millions of euros between the EU and Libya in 2017, and the EU and Tunisia in 2023, were designed to reduce migration, and the many deaths in the Mediterranean. The deals stipulated that the coastguards of both countries would take over border protection. However, these agreements have been heavily criticized, and reports on serious human rights violations are unabated. "Many of the survivors from Libya who have been on board with us in the last five days bear signs of torture on their bodies," Michel said. She added that migrants had recounted how they had been humiliated, forced to strip their clothing, doused with ice-cold water, beaten with wooden sticks, metal rods and plastic hoses, shot with pistols and raped. The rescue organization's most recent report on the situation in Libya, Tunisia and the Mediterranean also shares the harrowing stories of 64 survivors. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now "After being severely beaten, three young men jumped into the sea. The Libyan coastguard let them die in front of our eyes and even insulted them as they drowned. They said to each other: 'Let them die, it's easier for us and for them'," one migrant recalled. European sea rescue program On May 4, 2015, four families founded the search and rescue organization SOS Humanity in Berlin. Since then, they say they have rescued more than 38,000 refugees in distress at sea along the Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy. "The first rescue we carried out on March 7, 2016, rescued 74 exhausted, injured and desperate men and women in a small, unprotected rubber dinghy far off the coast of Libya," SOS Humanity founder Klaus Vogel told DW, adding that "our expectation of getting European governments to see refugees as fellow human beings, and to recognize the rescue of as Europe's natural duty has not been fulfilled." The organization calls for German politicians to push for a collective European sea rescue program, and to end its cooperation agreements with Libya and Tunisia. Meanwhile, the aid organization criticizes that Germany's incoming government does not even mention the term "sea rescue" in its coalition agreement. 'The world's deadliest border' "For more than 10 years now, we have had a situation in Europe in which European governments have held repeated crisis summits, but they have not been able to put an end to the dying," Gerald Knaus, an Austrian migration expert and co-founder and chairman of the think tank , told DW. "The deadliest border in the world remains the deadliest border in the world. And this continuous dying is an expression of a complete and systematic failure," he said. Knaus is the architect of the 2016 refugee agreement between the European Union and Turkey. At the time, the deal included €6 billion ($6.42 billion) worth of aid for Ankara in return for Turkey sealing off the migrant route across the Mediterranean and agreeing to take back refugees. According to the social scientist, the number of deaths in the Aegean Sea has fallen from 1,100 in one year to 80 as a result. Human dignity instead of populism According to Knaus, a deal with African countries could include issuing five-year visas for citizens who enter legally, increasing the number of scholarships available, and investing several hundred million euros to combat poverty. In return, the countries could agree to take back refugees who are obliged to leave the country. "The political signal would be that Europe does not have to elect far-right parties to control migration," he told DW. "The fatal message on the other side of the Atlantic is that Donald Trump has stopped irregular migration, the numbers have fallen dramatically. But he is doing this at the expense of human dignity and is demolishing the rule of law," Knaus said. "So, it is now extremely important for Germany's centrist parties and this coalition to urgently develop a solution based on the rule of law, with the necessary seriousness and without populism," he argued, adding that "blaming sea rescuers is populism and has always been populism."
