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483 drown in the Mediterranean while rescue ships are trapped in port | Care4Calais
On 2 July, the Sea Watch-3, which was by then the only operating
rescue boat still operating in the Mediterranean, was detained in Malta,
alongside Lifeline, and not allowed to leave port.
While rescue ships have been blocked in port, recent days have become
the deadliest in the Mediterranean this year. On 1 July, the Libyan
coastguard reported 63 people missing, while on 29 June more than 100 people drowned, among them three babies and other children. On 19 June, a wooden boat capsized off the coast of Libya. Out of the estimated 100 passengers, only five survived. A number of bodies have been washed up on the beaches.
At least 483 people have drowned in the Mediterranean between 19 June
and 4 July 2018 while two well equipped and ready to sail NGO vessels
were detained in port. These latest fatalities have pushed the death
toll in the Central Mediterranean route to over 1,400 in 2018.
One month later and Sea Watch and other rescue vessels are still being detained.
In the three years that Sea Watch has been active they have saved
37,000 people. That’s over a thousand people each month. In the middle of summer, with three ships ready to operate, they could have saved many many more than a thousand people. And that’s just Sea Watch, that’s not even counting the other rescue ships that would be out there if they weren’t prevented.
Who are these thousands of people who died because rescue missions were prevented last month? What if we could give them a name? Well over 33 per day, over 1 per hour.
What if we added to that all the ones that could have been saved if risking your life to request asylum wasn’t necessary at all? Deaths that could have been prevented. Future deaths that can be prevented if rescue missions are allowed to resume or safe passage for all it granted.
A lot of events and protests to call for the right to rescue are coming up, you can find some here:
At least one ship, the Aquarius, has reported being at sea again and has already rescued 141 people that it is now trying to bring to a safe port.
No news on what this will mean for the other rescue vessels.
Protests continue for the vessels still stuck in ports and the right of safe passage for all refugees. Check the two links above and this epic list of protests in Germany:
Once again, like in June before most of the boats were locked down in ports, the Aquarius is being denied entry into a safe port. They are carrying 141 people, including 73 minors.
The announcement has been made that the Aquarius will be allowed to enter Malta, from there the refugees will be divided between 5 countries.
This is the point we’re at, where EU states are making a fuss over accepting the asylum claim (not even the decision, just the right to ask for asylum which was supposed to be a universal right once) of on average less than 30 refugees per country. Which would have absolutely zero impact on any of those countries.
All the while other rescue ships are still stuck in the harbor and it isn’t clear whether the Aquarius will be allowed to return to the sea. Thousands are dying and the EU is keeping rescue ships locked in the port and dragging their feet about allowing the few refugees that were rescued to enter a safe port.
International maritime law states that
Any ships that received a distress signal must do what they can to rescue anyone in danger at sea
Those rescues at sea must be brought to a safe harbor
International human rights legislation states that:
It is illegal to forcibly return refugees to the country they have fled
Everyone has the right to request asylum and to have asylum granted if they meet the conditions set for asylum
The EU says a big ‘fuck you’ to all of that and locks down rescue ships for not breaking international maritime laws about the obligation to rescue those in need and not violating basic human rights about the right to asylum.
