Tag: migrants

English Channel Migrants and Refugees: Safety of Life at Sea Comes First

Migrants, Refugees, Safety at Sea, UK Home Office

London. UK. On the English south coast bordering The English Channel the number of migrants and refugees crossing from France to England seeking a better future has seen a surge this week with a period of good weather.  Today, it has been announced in the UK press that the UK Home Office is preparing for the UK Border Force to push back boats containing migrants and refugees into French waters thereby challenging international and maritime law positions for the long-standing assurance of safety of life at sea.

Overcrowding Conditions Onboard the Ocean Viking Threaten Lives of Rescued Migrants

Mediterranean, Migrants, rescue, SAR, SOS MEDITERRANEE

London. UK.  At the time of writing, the current situation with over 550 rescued persons onboard the Ocean Viking humanitarian rescue ship operating in the central Mediterranean is dire. Over the past five days, the vessel and crew have conducted six rescues yet have still not been allocated a place of safety to disembark their passengers. Men, women, children, as well as pregnant women remain on overcrowded decks with minimal shelter, while food provisions are running low.

UK Crown Prosecution Service takes Compassionate Stance for Migrants and Refugees crossing English Channel

English Channel, Human Rights, Human Trafficking, Migrants, Refugees, UK Home Office

London. UK. In respect of the ongoing English Channel migrant crossing situation, the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued a statement on Thursday 8 July 2021 confirming that asylum seekers entering the UK illegally would no longer be prosecuted unless they have been involved in other criminal activity. The position taken is at odds with the UK Home Office and the UK Home Secretary Piri Patel's attempts to bring into force the Nationality and Borders Bill released on Tuesday 6 July.

HRAS supports EU Commissioners call for human rights protections in the Mediterrenean Sea

Abuse, EU, European Commission, Libya, Mediterranean, Migrants, Refugees, SAR

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.

English Channel Migrant Movement and Human Rights at Sea

Abuse, English Channel, European Union, OP-ED, Refugees, rescue, SAR

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.

Human Rights at Sea signs the Open letter to Secretary-General of IMO requesting the revocation of Libya’s SAR zone

Human Rights, IMO, Libya, Migrants, Press Release, Press Releases, SAR

Press Release Immediate  Thursday 2 July 2020 LONDON.UK. Human Rights at Sea has today signed the Open Letter to the IMO Secretary General Mr Kitack Lim prepared  by the civil liberties organisation Statewatch which was delivered on 29 June 2020 signed by hundreds of individuals and organisations.  The letter openly calls on the  Secretary-General  to revoke the Libyan...

Haunting Testimony of Easter Weekend Deaths of Migrants & Human Rights Abuses

Deaths at Sea, Migrants, Press Release, Repubblica

"Then the Medkon Lines ship passed close by but didn't stop. Three of us started screaming desperately, then jumped in the water and tried to reach the ship. They drowned in a minute." "They looked at us as if we weren't human beings." London.UK.  Human Rights at Sea re-publishes a devastating translated witness-based testimony on the events of the Easter weekend 10-12 April in the Central Mediterranean taken from the Italian Repubblica newspaper. This follows previous reporting by the charity as to the tragic and unacceptable circumstances of the weekend's events.

Ocean Viking NGO ship rescues 274 people off Libya

International Issues, Mediterranean, Migrants, NGOs, Press Release, SOS MEDITERRANEE

 Press Release Thursday 20 February 2020   London.UK. The Ocean Viking, a rescue ship operated by SOS MEDITERRANEE in partnership with Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) is waiting for a port to disembark 274 men, women and children, rescued over three rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean on February 18 and 19, 2020. Among them are 22...

Italian authorities allow the Ocean Viking to disembark 182 survivors in Italy

Human Rights, Mediterranean, Migrants, NGOs, Press Release, SOS MEDITERRANEE

Central Mediterranean. On Sunday evening[22 October 2019], 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.

Ocean Viking assigned a Place of Safety in Lampedusa Italy

Abuse, Criminalisation, Human Rights, Mediterranean, Press Release

Press Release 15th September 2019 London, UK. [Reproduced from SOS MEDITERRANEE] The Ocean Viking receives instruction to disembark the 82 rescued people in Lampedusa, Italy. First humanitarian search and rescue ship authorized to proceed to an Italian Place of Safety in 14 months. Paris, Marseille, September 14, 2019. On Saturday, September 14, the Ocean Viking was informed by...

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