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:
And more events here:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/SeebrueckeSchafftsichereHaefen/events/
The crisis continues and is getting worse. As of today (24-09-2018) the last active rescue ship lost the right to be at sea:
In a cynical and wholly political manouvre, the maritime flag of the NGO SOS MEDITERRANEE will be revoked. Under pressure from Italy, Panama has now declared its decision of revoking its flag – after SOS MED has conducted rescues in the Mediterranean for more than two and a half years. Most recently, they rescued dozens of people in distress yesterday, after the Alarm Phone had alerted them to a distress case off the coast of Libya. They are still searching for a safe harbour to disembark the rescued. If they cannot go out at sea, more people will drown and no witnesses will be present anymore.
They are trying to prevent civilians from saving refugee lives at sea, and to prevent the mass-murder in the Mediterranean from even being witnessed.
And what do states do when they think there are no witnesses?
Morocco’s navy on Tuesday fired on a boat carrying migrants
Killed by the Moroccan Navy for seemingly intending to ‘illegally’ cross a maritime border to Europe. Morocco’s navy on Tuesday fired on a boat carrying migrants which refused to respond to its orders. Four migrants were wounded, including a Moroccan woman who died of her injuries in hospital.
On 25-09-2018, ONE DAY after the last NGO active in the same region was taken off the water.
More news: on 24-09-2018
Pilotes Volontaires spotted a rubber boat with about 100 people in
distress. They decided to alert the
vessels in this area. One commercial vessel and one military ship copied the mayday relay, but did nothing. Two cargo ships ignored the alert.
This shows that the political situation in the EU has an effect on ship masters, who would otherwise show no hesitation to assist people in distress at sea. No ship wants to risk losing their right to travel on international waters because they rescued refugees
and no commercial company would allow one of their captains to do so.
By criminalizing the rescue of refugees, the EU is giving ships the choice between ‘ignore refugees while they die’ and ‘risk losing your right to be at sea and your source of income’.
483 drown in the Mediterranean while rescue ships are trapped in port | Care4Calais
QueerAnarchism 