London. UK. HRAS Commentary. Early last week, the Office of Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, published 'A distress call for human rights', a comprehensive follow-up to the 2019 recommendations drafted in 'Lives saved. Rights protected. Bridging the protection gap for refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean'. Human Rights at Sea has reviewed and today, highlights its recommendations in support.
London. UK. An update to the HRAS Press Release of 30 August 2020 concerning the 2014 footage of the murder of persons at sea off Somalia first identified through mobile phone footage.
London, UK. / Suva, Fiji. Three Filipino crewmen have been left stranded in Fiji by their employers and manning agency. The seafarers have found themselves with few options and remain in limbo having contacted affiliated humanitarian support workers to Human Rights at Sea and provided firsthand testimony.
London. UK. On Saturday 13 February 2021 at 04:48, Human Rights at Sea received a direct call for assistance from an engine cadet who had been seriously assaulted by a senior crew member on a container ship en-route to the Port of London. The male cadet was frightened, he did not know where to turn and was in fear of his life.
London, UK. Human Rights at Sea has instructed 9 Bedford Row Chambers, London, to support the ongoing review of the case of Eritara Aatii Kaierua, the Kiribati fisheries observer who was found dead onboard the Taiwanese-flagged vessel WIN FAR 636, in March of this year while fishing in PNG waters.
London, UK. Human Rights at Sea today issues two new major international peer-reviewed reports focusing on Fisheries Observer safety, security and well-being in the Western and Central Pacific region, including for Observers employed by Commonwealth States through Regional Fisheries Management Organisations.
Joint Press Release Update to MT Gulf Sky Crew Case 21 October 2020 “Sir, it is very painful experience for me which [has been] never seen before in my life.” ‘The consequences of not being able to return to sea to work and earn a wage are profound on both the crew, and their...
London. UK. Increasing numbers of cases of human and labour rights abuse towards Indonesian fishers on foreign flagged vessels are coming to light. Most recently, international NGOs, including Human Rights at Sea, have been contacted with evidence highlighting the fishers' plight, the poor working conditions in which they are forced to work and allegations of ill-treatment resulting in deaths at sea.
London. UK. Former Master of the MV Tomini Destiny, Captain Rajnish Samuel Shah, has authorised the release by Human Rights at Sea of his personal testimony in defence of his command decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic for the protection the health, safety and security of his crew during unloading operations off the Port of Chittagong, Bangladesh in late March 2020.
London. UK. Taiwanese Coastguard authorities have arrested a 43 year old Chinese fishing vessel Master of the Seychelles-flagged Indian Star reported as being named 'Wang' who is suspected of ordering the 2014 reported murders of four men at sea.
People move. Migration has always been a feature of the human condition and it will always be so. We cannot stop it and efforts to stem it will, in the long run, prove futile. Global population has ballooned in recent years and travel from region to region has increased. More and more people are on the move. Their motives for leaving their homes and seeking lives elsewhere are numerous, but two in particular are relevant to the ‘crisis’ that has developed in recent weeks in the English Channel.
‘‘If an observer discovers things they weren’t intended to know about, they can face intimidation, threats, violence and, in the worst cases, murder.’’ London. UK. Human Rights at Sea today issues the latest in its series of Insight Briefing Notes covering key human rights issues within the maritime environment. Titled 'The Role of a Fisheries Observer' the insight is provided by Martin Purves, who prior to his present role as the Managing Director of the International Pole and Line Foundation, spent years at sea in fisheries management roles, including as a fisheries observer.
London. UK. / Fairhaven. MA. USA. Human Rights at Sea and the Dominica Flag State Administration remain closely engaged in the background investigations into the incident of the hijacking of the MT GULF SKY (IMO 9150377) on 5/6 July 2020 from UAE to Iranian waters, which later saw 26 of the 28 crew who had been deprived of their liberty and threatened with being shot during the ordeal, repatriated to India. This has included close engagement with the UAE Federal Transport Authority.
London.UK. Human Rights at Sea welcomes and supports the WWF statement on the issue of Human Rights Abuses at Sea published on the 3rd of July 2020. The full Statement can be read here and it is also replicated below: "WWF is committed to building a future where human well-being and nature conservation go hand-in-hand. Tens of millions of people work in this sector, either at capture, during processing or as part of scientific data collection. Observers are vulnerable at sea because the data they collect affects the stock assessments and various verification and/or certification processes – leaving them potential targets for intimidation and abuse, as has been reported in relation to some fishing vessels.
“Is there a ‘thank you’ to the observer? Something to sustain his widow and children for a few years, at least? Not often. The final ignominy is that compensation or insurance takes ‘a little while’ to come, if it does at all.” London, UK. Human Rights at Sea today publishes an extensive human rights focused report looking into the ongoing issue of Fisheries Observer protections and deaths at sea in the complex and highly-competitive commercial fishing industry supply chains that they work in.
