PRESS RELEASE 11 February 2018 “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...
Press Release 21st of March 2018 London. Human Rights at Sea is closely watching the ongoing situation in the central Mediterranean route following the seizure of the NGO Proactiva Open Arms vessel and crew by the Italian authorities in Sicilia during a search and rescue operation. During the operation, the NGO vessel refused to hand...
Human Rights at Sea comments in the recent article by The Christian Science Monitor about the increasing concern about the actions of the Italian State and European Union in trampling on customary humanitarian principles and international human rights law relating to migrants and refugees returned to Libya, and the well-documented human rights abuses suffered...
In an unprecedented step, the Malta based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) search and rescue (SAR) NGO has suspended all rescue operations in the Mediterranean citing, among other reasons, concern about the lawfulness of returns to Libya and alluding to the conditions of those returnees held in detention facilities in Libya. MOAS was one...
24 July 2017 UK P&I Club: Search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Amanda Hastings, Claims Executive at UK P&I Club, comments on the effect of Operation Triton on search and rescue operations: “Summer is once again upon us and the media coverage surrounding the refugee and migrant crisis in the Mediterranean continues, as...
Supporting SAR NGOs with Voluntary Guidance for use at Sea Human Rights at Sea has been assisting one of its Support Entities, the charitable Foundation Hope Not Hate, to produce new voluntary guidance materials for search and rescue NGOs operating in the Mediterranean under potential threat by Far Rights activists whose intention is to...
PRESS RELEASE Immediate 6 July 2017 Planned EU NGO Code of Conduct threatens life-saving search and rescue operations “Failure to sign this Code of Conduct or failure to comply with its obligations may result in the refusal by the Italian State to authorize the access to national ports, subject to compliance with the existing...