Operators of private rescue vessels in the Mediterranean are accustomed to difficulties, but the coronavirus pandemic has created yet another one, with Italy and Malta officially closing their ports to them. That fact has only worsened an already bad situation stemming from a lack of consensus among EU member states on refugee and asylum policy.
The Maltese government, for its part, said that it had no choice but to close its ports because it simply lacks the capacity to operate them, as most of the country’s energies are currently focused on combating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Illegal to close borders to asylum-seekers
At the moment, most EU member states have closed their borders. EU migration expert Raphael Bossong, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), says that is a legitimate course of action during a crisis such as that presented by the coronavirus.
But that doesn’t mean states can simply turn away those seeking help, he says. “If a vessel is carrying asylum-seekers at sea, then an exception must be made and the ship be allowed to enter port,” says Bossong.
On April 6, crew members from the Alan Kurdi rescued 68 migrants in the Mediterranean Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Cedric Fettouche/Sea-Eye
Standoff off Sicily
Maritime law stipulates that people rescued at sea must be taken to the closest safe harbor. Private rescue ships, like the Alan Kurdi, operated by the organization Sea-Eye, already had difficulties gaining entrance to safe harbors before the coronavirus began, but now it has become nearly impossible for them to get in.
Currently, the Alan Kurdi is anchored off the coast of Sicily, where its crew and 149 refugees have been waiting for a resolution to their dilemma for more than a week.
Dark scenes are playing out in Maltese waters, too. On Wednesday, five drowned bodies were recovered at sea. The dead were said to have been passengers on a rubber boat full of refugees. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 51 of those refugees were picked up by a passing merchant ship and handed over to the Libyan coast guard. Authorities say the rescued are currently in a camp in Tripoli, returned to the capital of a country in the grips of a civil war.
Rescuing migrants off Libya
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Rescuers’ accusations
Malta and Italy have repeatedly attempted to curtail freedom of movement for private rescue ships in the past. Now, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accuse Rome and Valletta of misusing the coronavirus pandemic for political purposes.
Oliver Kulikowski of the organization Sea Watch says that although Italy has been hard-hit by the crisis, this does not give politicians there an excuse to ignore human rights and maritime laws. “Regardless of the situation in Europe, people are still trying to escape Libya — where torture and human rights abuses are the order of the day — in vessels not fit for the journey,” says Kulikowski.
The European Union has been trying to keep refugees and migrants from making the dangerous journey to its shores for years. To do so, it has counted heavily on cooperation from Libyan authorities. One tactic employed has been to task the Libyan coast guard with picking up refugees headed to Europe and returning them to Libya. Those taken back are often tortured and blackmailed.
Tripoli has also been the scene of repeated clashes between Libya’s internationally recognized government and opposition rebels since April 2019. Many regions in the country are unsafe. The Libyan government recently acknowledged that fact when it refused to let migrants disembark in the port of Tripoli a few days ago because it simply was dangerous for them to do so. Recent skirmishes in the capital led the government to declare the port unsafe.
Libyan soldiers and rebels have clashed in the capital of TripoliImage: picture-alliance/Photoshot/A. Salahuddien
An impossible situation for refugees
Tom Garofalo of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) agrees with the assessment that returned migrants and refugees are not safe in Libya. “It’s definitely the case that it’s it can be very dangerous to bring people back into Tripoli port because of the current fighting, but that’s that there is no other alternative,” Garofalo said. “The European ports are not accepting them. There’s no place for them to go. And they are brought back to Libya.
It is estimated that as many as 600,000 refugees are in the North African country at the moment, though not all of them want to continue on to Europe, Garofalo says. He says many of them came to Libya to earn money to live on, with many hoping to return home as soon as possible. He says those people are now in an impossible situation in which they don’t know when they will be able to leave the war-torn country and are now simply trying to survive.
Garofalo warns that increasing violence paired with the coronavirus could lead many refugees and migrants to flee yet again. In an attempt to keep them from setting out for Europe, Malta has proposed an EU aid package to assist Libya. The plan would provide at least €100 million ($109 million) worth of food, medicine and medical equipment.
Desperate need for international solidarity
“It’s important to support the Libyan government and to … build on the strong points to help them to deal with this crisis,” Garofalo says. “But a much better option would be for the international community, including Malta, Italy, U.K., France, Germany, everybody to look more pragmatically at how to provide safe haven and to open up to this to these vulnerable people … particularly at a time when we’re trying to foster international solidarity to deal with this epidemic.”
Sea Watch’s Kulikowski says the current situation has handcuffed private rescue organizations, adding, “The European Union refuses to rescue people, preferring to let them drown if they cannot reach the European coast on their own.”
In October 2019, a clear majority of European parliamentarians rejected a proposal that would have granted rescue organizations more rights. That, combined with a lack of international solidarity in the face of increasingly drastic measures by Mediterranean countries, has only made a dangerous journey deadlier still in the age of the coronavirus pandemic.
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From sea rescue to quarantine: A visual diary from the Ocean Viking
After weathering storms and saving shipwrecked migrants in the Mediterranean, the Ocean Viking is quarantined in Italy. DW’s Miodrag Soric documents the mission, the people saved and life on board a rescue vessel.
Image: DW/M. SoricAt see with the Ocean Viking
I joined the Ocean Viking crew in mid-February, setting sail for two weeks along the Libyan coast. As the sole journalist on board, I aimed to document how Doctors Without Borders and SOS Mediterranee conduct their rescue operations and the plight of the refugees they saved. After our time at sea, the crew and I hoped to disembark in Italy. Instead we were quarantined due to the coronavirus.
Image: DW/M. Soric
Patrolling the waters off the coast of Libya, the crew of the rescue vessel Ocean Viking is constantly on the watch for boats in distress. Operated by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, the ship’s mission is saving migrants trying to reach Europe, whose boats are shipwrecked or in distress. I joined the crew in mid-February as the only journalist on board.
Image: DW/M. Soric
In just one day, the Ocean Viking received distress calls to come to the aid of two boats drifting some 130 kilometers off the coast of Libya. Despite choppy waves and frantic passengers, the rescue crew managed to calm everyone down and bring them on board the rescue vessel. During the entire mission, I witnessed the crew save 274 people.
Image: DW/M. SoricRisking it all for Europe
Most of the people the Ocean Viking rescues are male. During our two-week mission, we saw many from Bangladesh, Morocco, but also from sub-Saharan countries. They were risking it all to get to Europe and were extremely relieved when we the crew took them on board and said they would not have to go back to Libya.
Image: DW/M. Soric
Once on board the Ocean Viking, the refugees have time to recover from their arduous journey and reflect on their lives ahead. The people who have left their homes and risked it all, will soon be confronted with a new life in Europe. I often asked myself, what they must be thinking, what have they left behind and how they imagine their future.
Image: DW/M. SoricDedicated to saving lives: Erik Koninsberger
I’ve come to admire the dedication of the crew. With representatives from more than 14 yountries, various ethnicities and religions, what unites them is their steadfast dedication to saving lives. No matter what they did in previous lives, no one is too vain to scrub the deck or clean the toilets. Take Erik Koninsberger — just two years ago the 61-year-old worked as an actor on stage and in film.
Image: DW/M. SoricThe rescuer: Illina Angelova
“I can’t imagine working anywhere else,” says Illina Angelova, the Humanitarian Affairs Officer aboard the Ocean Viking. The young Bulgarian, who is part of the rescue team that saved 274 people from almost certain drowning, is responsible for taking care of the refugees once on board. Like the other crew members, she knows the danger involved in her work, but she is convinced of its importance.
Image: DW/M. Soric
When the migrants are brought on board the ship, they are given food, water, a bag of clothing and a blanket. While I was on board the ship, the migrants stayed in this container until they could safely disembark in Italy. This simple shelter provided them protection and a safe space to recover from their journey.
Image: DW/M. SoricTemporary home on the ship
After the migrants were taken ashore in Italy, I was allowed to look around their temporary living quarters. Inside the shelter, the crew had set up a boxing ring for stress relief. On the walls, those who were rescued had scribbled drawings from their homeland and messages of thanks to the Ocean Viking.
Image: DW/M. Soric
Before the rescued migrants left Ocean Viking, they signed the walls in their living container. Here, one of them from Bangladesh recorded the date he left the ship for his new life in Europe: February 23, 2020. Others offered thanks or prayers for their rescue. Where they will go from the port in Sicily is not clear.
Image: DW/M. Soric
Italian authorities have quarantined the Ocean Viking in Sicily. They fear that the refugees could have brought the coronavirus on board. Every day Dr. Stephen K. Hall from Doctors Without Borders takes our temperature and checks our health. Originally from Sacramento, California, the doctor has been a volunteer since 2013 and was previously in South Sudan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Syria.
Image: DW/M. Soric
These refugee children are from the Ivory Coast. It’s not clear where their parents are. After they were rescued by the Ocean Viking, they received toys to comfort them. But these kids – who had nothing else to hold and cuddle – were quickly disappointed. When they left the boat, Italian authorities took away the toys, out of fear they could be contaminated with the coronavirus.
Image: DW/M. Soric
After several days of weathering storms off the Italian coast, we were releaved when port authorities allowed us to dock in Pozzallo, Sicily. But because of the coronavirus, the crew and I were not able to actually disembark. We’ve been told we have to be quarantined for two weeks! In order to keep healthy and fit, crew members like this one from Romania, have built a make-shift gym.
Image: DW/M. Soric
While quarantined, I’ve had the chance to meet many of the crew. Tanguy is the undisputed hero here. No one has rescued more people than the 38-year-old Frenchman. According to some, the man at the helm of the lifeboat has saved more than 10,000 people from drowning. Even at the risk of his own life, Tanguy keeps his cool and gets the people to obey his orders and stay calm – and alive.
Image: DW/M. Soric
With her winning smile, Miriam Willis warms the hearts of all on board. The 35-year-old from Cambridge, UK, is responsible for the logistics on the Ocean Viking. She arranges everything for the refugees, from food and drink to clothes, a space for sleeping and washing up. Miriam has worked the past five years for Doctors Without Borders, in Myanmar, South Sudan and Central Africa.
Image: DW/M. Soric
Saving people does not come cheaply. Each day Doctors Without Borders and SOS Mediterranee spend at sea on the Ocean Viking costs 14,000 euros. A portion of the money goes towards paying rent on the ship. The organizations need new lifeboats and better equipment for the crew. But there’s not enough money for that. The NGOs rely entirely on donations.
Image: DW/M. Soric
Source link : https://amp.dw.com/en/coronavirus-crisis-hampering-mediterranean-migrant-rescues/a-53168399
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Publish date : 2020-04-17 03:00:00
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