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The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Italy's detention of rescue vessels in Mediterranean will lead to more deaths, say campaigners
Italian officials have detained NGO rescue vessels five times in the past six weeks, as campaigners criticise an escalating crackdown they fear will lead to more fatalities on one of the world's deadliest migration routes. On Tuesday the Berlin-based NGO Sea-Watch received confirmation that its vessel, the Aurora, had been detained in Lampedusa for 20 days. It was detained after the vessel had helped to rescue about 70 people in international waters, many of whom had been suffering from fuel burns, seasickness and dehydration. 'This decision is politically motivated; those who rescue are punished,' said Karla Primc, the head of operations on the Aurora. 'That is the reality in 2025.' A smaller vessel that was also involved in the rescue operation, the Dakini, was also detained. Sea-Watch linked the detentions to the decision to bring the 70 rescued people to the port of Lampedusa, rather than the much farther port of Pozzallo, where the Italian authorities had directed them. 'Due to the difficult weather conditions, the Aurora developed a significant list and the rescued persons and crew were exposed to a high risk of hypothermia and going overboard,' it said. 'Keeping the Italian authorities constantly informed, the ship's crew headed for the closer port of Lampedusa. After about 10 hours, the Aurora entered Lampedusa with explicit consent of Italy and brought all rescued persons safely ashore.' Rights groups began sounding the alarm over an increase in vessel detentions in early June when the authorities detained the Nadir, a ship operated by the German association ResQship, for 20 days. It was the first time a sailing vessel had been detained since the Italian government imposed hardline rules on civilian sea rescue activities in 2023. Days later, a vessel operated by the Germany-based search and rescue organisation Sea-Eye was also detained. The ships faced varying accusations of not complying with the authorities' instructions around rescues at sea, which have included requirements preventing ships from responding to multiple distress calls and making them travel long distances to ports in central and northern Italy. 'It's clear now that the Italian state is really trying to use all its means to keep us away,' said Jelka Kretzschmar, a crew member of the Nadir. 'The effects of this will obviously be that people disappear at sea, they drown, they suffer with no one watching and the scandal of how this is being systematically curated by Europe will not be exposed. Instead people will be more extensively pushed back by European authorities and pulled back by Tunisian and Libyan authorities and put back in torture camps or abducted and dropped in the desert.' The Italian government did not respond to a request for comment. Since the hardline rules on civilian sea rescues took effect in early 2023, NGO ships have been detained 29 times, leaving them languishing in harbours for 700 days instead of saving lives, according to the affected organisations. Another 822 days were lost navigating to far-off ports. What appears to be different this time around is that smaller vessels, such as the Dakini, which offers life vests and water but cannot bring people onboard due to its small size, are also being targeted, say campaigners. 'Therefore the practice of detention hits a new era – including now also ships of the so-called minifleet that are only supporting rescue operations,' the ship's crew said in a message to the Guardian. This year marks 10 years since NGO ships began operating in the Mediterranean. Over the years they've rescued more than 175,000 people, even as many have grappled with increased criminalisation and legal crackdowns. Earlier this month, 32 organisations issued a statement demanding that the Italian government end its 'systematic obstruction' of NGO search and rescue efforts. 'Deliberately keeping non-governmental search and rescue organisations away from the central Mediterranean causes countless more deaths at sea on one of the deadliest flight routes worldwide,' the statement noted. 'Without the presence of NGO assets and aircrafts, more people will drown while fleeing across the central Mediterranean, and human rights violations as well as shipwrecks will occur unnoticed.' Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion The statement was made days after the crew of the Nadir received news that it had been detained for a second time. For another 20 days, the vessel had been unable to leave the port of Lampedusa, even as mayday calls rang out over the radio. 'It's like there's an invisible wall,' said James Watson, a British doctor who was on his fourth volunteer trip on the vessel when it was detained. 'You can hear about these cases which are really distressing, you can hear it in the voices of the people who are reporting them. Everyone of those cases is really scary and represents people whose lives are at risk. And then you're just sort of sat there, unable to do anything about it.' Figures from the International Organization for Migration suggest that this year more than 800 people have drowned in the Mediterranean, though the actual death toll is believed to be significantly higher. Ultimately Watson felt as though the Italian government's actions were aimed at quelling the crucial roles that NGO rescue ships play in the Mediterranean. 'These deliberate efforts to make the sea rescue harder, to take people who can be involved and help, out of that area not only increase the number of people dying but they kind of invisibilise it,' he said. 'If nobody is in the area to find boats, to report on boats, then we don't even know how many people are dying,' he said. 'So it's not just that people are going to die, which they definitely are, but nobody's even going to hear about those people dying.'
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.
The Independent
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
EU rights court says Italy not responsible for Libyan coast guard actions over migrant boat sinking
Judges at the European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that Italy could not be held liable for the actions of the Libyan Coast Guard, rejecting a case brought by a group of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in a fatal boat sinking in 2017. The Strasbourg court declared the case inadmissible, finding Italy did not have 'effective control' of the expanse of waters off the coast of Tripoli where a small ship carrying some 150 people sank in 2017. Twenty people died in the incident. Around 45 survivors onboard the ship said they were taken to Tajura Detention Center in Tripoli where they were beaten and abused. The judges found that the captain and crew of the Libyan vessel Ras Jadir had acted independently when they answered a distress signal in the early morning hours on Nov. 6. Italy has supplied the Libyans with funding, vessels and training as part of an agreement to slow the tide of migrants crossing the Mediterranean. The judges found, however, that this support did not prove 'Italy had taken over Libya's public-authority powers.' A group of migrants was rescued by the humanitarian organization Sea Watch and were taken to Italy. A ruling in favor of the 14 survivors who filed the complaint at the ECHR could have undermined international agreements made by several European Union countries with Libya, Turkey and others to prevent migrants from coming to European shores. The ECHR handles complaints against the 46 member states of the Council of Europe. The intergovernmental organization is not an EU institution and was set up after the Second World War to promote peace and democracy. Libya is not a member of the Council of Europe, so the court has no jurisdiction over the country's actions. ___ Follow AP's coverage of migration issues at
Miami Herald
19-03-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Rare false killer whales surface alongside boaters in the Mediterranean, video shows
Boaters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea recently happened upon a rare pod of false killer whales, video footage shows. A group of friends were sailing near Tel Aviv, Israel, in the early morning hours of March 18 when the encounter occurred. About 40 minutes into their trip, they noticed multiple fins jutting out from the surface of the water, according to a news release from Delphis, an Israeli environmental research non-profit. As the boaters got closer, they realized the fins belonged to a group of six to 10 dolphins — which they believed to be a common species. The marine mammals then swam alongside their vessel for around an hour. A video posted by Delphis shows the sleek, dark-colored creatures calmly cruising just below the surface and occasionally breaching to breathe. Soon after the encounter, the boaters reported the sighting using the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel's SeaWatch app. From there, it was forwarded to Delphis, which confirmed the creatures were false killer whales. A type of oceanic dolphin, false killer whales are named for their skull shape, which resembles that of an orca, according to the International Whaling Commission. Measuring up to 20 feet long, the dolphins are social animals that feed on a variety of fish and squid. They are found throughout much of the world's oceans, though little is known about the size of their populations, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Aviad Sheinin, the director of Delphis' Dolphin and Sea Center, said in the release that false killer whales are one of the rarest marine mammals known in the region — though he added that sightings are becoming more common. Before 2020, the animals avoided the coastal areas of Israel, instead preferring the deeper waters of the Mediterranean, Sheinin said. But, since the COVID-19 pandemic, sightings have been reported each year, with the last one occurring in June. Google Translate was used to translate a news release from Delphis.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Migrants rescued after several days stranded on oil platform
Thirty-two migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean have been rescued by an NGO ship after spending several days stranded on an oil platform off the coast of Tunisia. "Women, men and children" were shipwrecked with no food or water, according to Mediterranea, a migrant rescue charity. One person on the platform had died, the charity said. NGO Sea Watch said it had managed to rescue all 32 people from the gas platform on Tuesday afternoon, and that they were being looked after aboard the Aurora ship. However, the Aurora's final destination was unclear as no country nearby had yet assigned the ship a port of safety, Sea Watch said. It added that no European country had intervened "despite the imminent emergency" and the fact that the people were stranded in international waters on the border of the Tunisian and Maltese search and rescue (SAR) zones. NGO monitoring aircraft Seabird reportedly spotted an empty rubber dinghy near the platform on 1 March. The shipwrecked people then managed to contact Alarm Phone - an emergency hotline for migrants in trouble at sea. In the call, they said they had been without food for days and that their condition was critical. They also reported the death of one person, Sea Watch said. In a video apparently filmed by one of the people on the platform and shared by NGOs on social media, a young man in a white t-shirt could be heard saying that he and the others were "suffering from hunger and dying of cold". Speaking in Tigrinya - a language spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea - the man said they left Libya five days ago and that the dinghy they were travelling on capsized. "Those who made it here and didn't die at sea are dying of hunger and exhaustion, if in the few hours nobody does anything we will obviously die... We have only little chance [to survive]," he said. Behind him were several people apparently shivering from the cold as the waves crashed against the oil platform's pillars. Over 210,000 people tried to cross the Central Mediterranean in 2023, according to data shared by the UN. More than 60,000 were intercepted and sent back to African shores, and nearly 2000 lost their lives at sea. On a boat picking up migrants in the middle of the Med Italian state of emergency to tackle migrant boats
