Central Mediterranean. On Sunday evening, the Ocean Viking, a humanitarian rescue ship chartered by SOS MEDITERRANEE and operated in partnership with Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), received instructions from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) of Rome to proceed to Messina, Italy, to disembark 182 people rescued at sea....
Press Release 22 July 2019 London, UK. The Norwegian Flag and Norwegian owners have stepped up to provide a new civil society humanitarian rescue vessel the Viking Ocean to be operated in the central Mediterranean reflecting a renewed joint partnership between SOS MEDITERRANEE and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) for the rescue of persons in distress at...
Press Release 18th July 2019 Reproduced Article. GENEVA (18 July 2019) – UN human rights experts* have expressed grave concern over the detention and criminal proceedings in Italy against the German captain of the migrant rescue vessel Sea-Watch 3, and stated that the threats to the judge who ruled her release were unlawful. “Rescuing...
OP-ED 5 July 2019 Photo credit: Reuters Geneva, Switzerland. Captain Carola Rackete has now been freed, but the European political controversy continues. The judicial decision delivered a much needed victory for both common-sense and humanitarian acts of rescue at sea, thereby setting a precedent to be reflected on for all vessel Captains and policy makers...
Press Release April 23rd 2019 London.UK. Not-for-profit organisation Team Humanity’s founder Salam Aldeen through the representation of the Global Legal Action Network, have decided to take the Greek government to the Strasbourg Court, to held them accountable for the legal ordeal they have put Salam Aldeen and his crew through since 14th January 2016,...
Press Release 26th February 2019 London. UK. Human Rights at Sea has published a new Briefing Note on the ‘Legal and Policy Matters Arising from the Increased Criminalisation of the Civil Society Search and Rescue Activities in the Mediterranean’. This is the second publication on the issue of the increasing levels of criminalisation of civil...
PRESS RELEASE 11 February 2019 “The case of Aquarius’ de-flagging…is a dark moment in the history of international SAR operations.” Human Rights at Sea, February 2019. London.UK. Human Rights at Sea issues its independent review and commentary into the ‘Human Rights and International Rule of Law Ramifications of the De-Flagging of M/V Aquarius Dignitus‘;...
COMMENT 28 December 2018 London.UK. The recent increase in migrant crossings from France to England across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, has prompted calls within the UK to increase sea patrols and prevent crossings. Nonetheless, the issue should not be unexpected for UK Border Force as the inevitability of exploitation of those fleeing war-torn...
PRESS RELEASE Tuesday 04 December 2018 Geneva. On November 30th, the Swiss Parliament has responded to a parliamentary inquiry on the possibility of letting the Aquarius, search-and-rescue (SAR) ship run by SOS Méditerranée and Médecins sans Frontières, denying the vessel to sail under the Swiss flag. The issue has stirred a national debate in the country...
PRESS RELEASE Immediate London, UK. Human Rights at Sea is please to publish a legal research and educational article by Luisa Zappalà titled: “Search and rescue: shared responsibilities in international law of Member States, the European Union and Frontex in the Mediterranean.” The article, a LLM dissertation, was first published in 2016 through the University...
PRESS RELEASE Immediate London UK. The short award-winning film ‘LIFEBOAT’ is to be shown at the second International Maritime Human Rights (IMHR) conference on 29 October 2018 to be held at the historic and newly furbished Fishmongers’ Hall, London. LIFEBOAT showcases refugees desperate enough to risk their lives in rubber boats leaving Libya in...
Press Release Thursday 20 July 2018 London.UK. Six days ago, a boat carrying 40 people in distress, including two pregnant women, who sought asylum and protection in Europe had entered the Maltese Search and Rescue (SAR) zone. The migrant boat was denied entry into Malta. The fact that the migrant boat had reached Malta SAR...
Press Release 20 June 2018 World Refugee Day London.UK. World Refugee Day 2018 and the news for refugees and others in need of protection are worse than ever before. The European Union considers for yet another time the idea of processing migrants and asylum seekers offshore, in countries of Africa. The idea of extraterritorial processing of...
Press Release 8 May 2018 London. Italy’s collaboration with Libya to stop migrants and asylum seekers reaching Europe is facing a legal challenge over allegations that it has led to grave human rights violations against those crossing the Mediterranean, including torture and slavery. Seventeen survivors of a fatal incident in which a boat carrying migrants...
Press Release 27 APRIL 2018 London. Human Rights at Sea is closely watching the ongoing situation in the central Mediterranean route, and is deeply concerned with the restrictive asylum policies of the European Union and the general securitisation and criminalisation of search and rescue at sea. What we are witnessing is push backs operations of...