[Foreign Policy] The radicalization in the migration debate at the example of Sea-Watch and Carola Rackete 2019-07-15
The dominant narrative about Sea-Watch 3 and its captain Carola Rackete is that a young woman was arrested by a European country for saving human lives.
However this argument is dangerous not least because it is wrong.
Rackete was arrested for landinng with the Sea-Watch 3 without permission in an Italian port and rammed a boat of the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza).
On top of that the German government has immediately sided with Rackete and represents a questionable interference for Italy.
So there a critical look at the situation is worth doing.
In addition guidelines of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) apply for the treatment of the persons rescued at sea. According to this the rescued people are to be brought to a safe place as soon as possible. And a safe place is characterized by the fact that the people are not in danger there. A place where the life and freedom of the rescued people are in danger should be avoided. [2,p.8ff]
So there is a duty to rescue people in distress. However there is no international right of entry. So if the Italian government wants to close its borders, it has the right to do so regardless of whether or not it pleases outsiders.
The ECHR justified its decision by stating that interim measures are only foreseen when there is an immediate risk of irreparable damage. Previously 11 people were allowed to leave the ship due to their state of health. According to the ECHR there were no more people on the ship that were at risk. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Rocket then announced that it would still head for Italian waters because people would not be able to take it anymore. [8] [9] [10]
On June 26, 2019 the Sea-Watch 3 drove despite prohibition into Italian territorial waters. At the harbor entrance there would have been a dramatic accident at the port of Lampedusa. A boat of the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) was pressed by the Sea-Watch 3 against the wall because it was supposed to prevent the Sea-Watch 3 from entering. At least here there is the question of whether the protection of human life was ever important to Rackete. [11] [12] [13]
Striking is that no other country was steered for. Instead of going to Tunisia, Egypt, France, Greece or Spain during the long odyssey they had to go ashore in Italy. And surprising is the lifting of the house arrest after she used force against a boat of the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza). It raises the suspicion that it was not about the people but a showdown with the Italian government.
Ships regularly request access to Italian ports to land people picked up in the Mediterranean. And it is still questionable why these ships do not drive people to the nearby coast, if they do not collect people directly in the Mediterranean but directly off the coast. Thus these ships behave effectively like human smugglers. And it begs the question of how many people were lured into certain death by this behavior because they ran out of water, food or fuel on the open sea. The shortest route from the Libyan coast to the Italian island of Lampedusa is over 200 km (125 miles) and can not be found without a location system and the next route from the Libyan coast to the Sicilian coast is over 500 km (300 miles) and is out of reach due to an inevitable shortage of water, food and fuel even for a middle boat.
[19]
Recent Italian migration policy has achieved a more humanitarian success with the closure of an active preventive system as fewer people have drowned in the Mediterranean. Between January 1, and March 15, 2018 5,945 people arrived in Italy. Between January 1, and March 15, 2019 it were only 335 or 94 % less. Between October 2017 and January 2018 around 17,500 asylum seekers were rejected. By contrast, in October 2018 until January 2019 25,000 asylum seekers were rejected 43% more. And although the Italian government has promised to deport 500,000 people so far only 500 have been deported per month. [20] [21]
The policy of Italy has therefore a significant influence on the whole situation. And the number of people crossing the Mediterranean has fallen from 172,301 in 2017 to 113,482 in 2018. At the same time the number of those who drowned or went missing in the Mediterranean fell from 3,139 in 2017 to 2,262 in 2018. [22] After that the ships contribute by luring people from Africa to the open sea. And conversely an end to this approach does mean that fewer people drown in the sea.
The Department of Information Security (Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza/DIS) underlines this development with its report for the year 2018. According to them the decline is also due to the fact that fewer NGO ships are traveling in the Mediterranean and that Libyan border guards are increasingly protecting the coast. Both developments are essentially supported by the Italian Government. In addition the Department of Security Information (Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza/DIS) assumes that NGO ships behave like human traffickers and may cooperate with but are at least exploit by human traffickers in Africa. [23,p.89] [24]
Additionaly the Sea-Watch 3 was on the day the 53 people were captured at the Bouri oil field off the coast of Libya. Whether the Sea-Watch 3 has landed there or just drove by and whether it was only occasionally there or all day is also not clear. Striking is the location which is perfectly suitable as a meeting place because of the well visible offshore drilling rig. The Sea-Watch 3 needs no landmarks because of the GPS system a dinghy however does. [25] [26]
[1] SEERECHTSÜBEREINKOMMEN DER VEREINTEN NATIONEN UND ÜBEREINKOMMEN ZUR DURCHFÜHRUNG DES TEILS XI DES SEERECHTSÜBEREINKOMMENS 1998-06-23
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:1998:179:0003:0134:DE:PDF
[2] Bekanntmachung der IMO-Entschließung MSC.167(78) des Schiffssicherheitsausschusses über die Richtlinien für die Behandlung von auf See geretteten Personen (angenommen am 20. Mai 2004)
https://www.bsh.de/DE/THEMEN/Schifffahrt/Nautische_Informationen/Weitere_Informationen/Schifffahrtsvorschriften/Downloads_Schifffahrtsvorschriften/Internationale_Schifffahrtsvorschriften/Beilage_2009-10.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1
[3] Retter scheitern mit Eilantrag - „Sea-Watch 3“ darf nicht in Italien anlegen 2019-06-25
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/retter-scheitern-mit-eilantrag-sea-watch-3-darf-nicht-in-italien-anlegen/24494088.html
[4] Eilantrag abgelehnt, Einreise verweigert - Flüchtlinge scheitern vor Gericht und müssen auf See bleiben 2019-06-25
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/sea-watch-3-fluechtlinge-scheitern-vor-europaeischem-gerichtshof-fuer-menschenrechte-a-1274294.html
[5] Europäischer Gerichtshof lehnt Sea-Watch-Antrag ab 2019-06-25
https://diepresse.com/home/ausland/welt/5649846/Europaeischer-Gerichtshof-lehnt-SeaWatchAntrag-ab
[6] Eilantrag gegen Italien - "Sea-Watch" scheitert vor Gericht 2019-06-25
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/sea-watch-145.html
[7] Seenotrettung : "Sea-Watch 3" darf nicht in Italien anlegen 2019-06-25
https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2019-06/seenotrettung-sea-watch-3-italien-europaeischer-gerichtshof-menschenrechte
[8] 'Enough, we're coming': Stranded rescue ship heads for Italy without permission 2019-06-26
https://www.thelocal.it/20190626/sea-watch-rescue-ship-heads-for-italy-without-permission
[9] Sea Watch: Kapitänin steuert trotz Verbots Lampedusa an 2019-06-26
https://kurier.at/politik/ausland/sea-watch-kapitaenin-steuert-trotz-verbots-lampedusa-an/400534738
[10] MITTELMEER - Sea-Watch-Kapitänin will Migranten trotz Verbots nach Lampedusa bringen 2019-06-26
https://derstandard.at/2000105420704/Sea-Watch-Kapitaenin-will-Migranten-trotz-Verbots-nach-Lampedusa-bringen
[11] Carola Rackete arrestata, cosa rischia ora la capitana della Sea Watch 3 2019-06-29
https://www.quotidiano.net/cronaca/carola-rackete-arrestata-1.4669876
[12] La Sea Watch si scontra con la motovedetta della Gdf sulla banchina di Lampedusa 2019-06-29
https://youtu.be/yOsHnKXJ_SY
[13] Matteo Salvini: Stanotte comportamento CRIMINALE della comandante della nave pirata che ha tentato di schiacciare contro la banchina del porto di Lampedusa una motovedetta della Guardia di Finanza, con l’equipaggio a bordo, mettendo a rischio la vita degli agenti. DELINQUENTI! 2019-06-28
https://twitter.com/matteosalvinimi/status/1144859183814250496
[14] MIGRANTI - Sea Watch, parla Carola Rackete: «Dovevo entrare in porto, temevo che alcuni migranti potessero suicidarsi» 2019-06-30
https://www.corriere.it/politica/19_giugno_30/dovevo-entrare-portotemevo-che-alcuni-migrantipotessero-suicidarsi-2a0a6448-9aad-11e9-8fdd-d4f7eb4bd62c.shtml
[15] "Sea-Watch"-Kapitänin - Carola Rackete begründet Entscheidung mit hoffnungsloser Lage 2019-06-30
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/carola-rackete-sea-watch-kapitaenin-verteidigt-hafeneinfahrt-a-1275064.html
[16] "Sea Watch 3" - Kapitänin Rackete rechtfertigt Hafeneinfahrt 2019-06-30
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/sea-watch-3-carola-rackete-lampedusa-1.4505310
[17] Rettungsschiff "Sea-Watch 3" - Kapitänin verteidigt Hafeneinfahrt 2019-06-30
http://www.tagesschau.de/inland/sea-watch-183.html
[18] Sea-Watch-Kapitänin - Rackete kommt wieder frei 2019-07-03
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/rackete-sea-watch-freilassung-101.html
[19] people trafficking 2016-03-12
https://youtu.be/TbIc1LZqIAw
[20] 94 Prozent weniger Migranten in Italien eingetroffen 2019-03-18
https://derstandard.at/2000099728659/94-Prozent-weniger-Migranten-in-Italien-eingetroffen?ref=article
[21] Italy rejects record number of asylum applications 2019-02-14
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/14/italy-rejects-record-number-of-asylum-applications
[22] Migration: Weniger Flüchtlinge im Mittelmeer ertrunken 2019-01-03
https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2019-01/migration-fluechtlinge-mittelmeer-gestorben-gesamtzahl-un-fluechtlingshilfswerk
[23] RELAZIONE SULLA POLITICA DELL’INFORMAZIONE PER LA SICUREZZA 2018
https://www.sicurezzanazionale.gov.it/sisr.nsf/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Relazione-2018.pdf
[24] Servizi segreti: “Riduzione navi Ong duro colpo per i trafficanti” 2019-02-28
https://www.ilprimatonazionale.it/politica/servizi-segreti-riduzione-navi-ong-duro-colpo-per-i-trafficanti-106391/
[25] SEA-WATCH 3 - SEARCH & RESCUE VESSEL
https://www.vesselfinder.com/de/vessels/SEA-WATCH-3-IMO-7302225-MMSI-244140096
[26] Bouri Oil Field Port Flag
https://www.fleetmon.com/ports/bouri-oil-field_lybou_7818/?language=de
The legal situation
The legal situation is essentially defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) Guidelines for the Treatment of persons rescued at sea. Under Article 98 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) there is an obligation to assist people found at sea in danger of death. The distress is to be considered purely objective. The reasons, the circumstances, the origin of those affected or the possible deliberate contribution of the situation does not change the duty to help. This also applies to the fact that the boats of the rescued people are regularly not seaworthy and/or completely overloaded. [1,p.25,Art98]In addition guidelines of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) apply for the treatment of the persons rescued at sea. According to this the rescued people are to be brought to a safe place as soon as possible. And a safe place is characterized by the fact that the people are not in danger there. A place where the life and freedom of the rescued people are in danger should be avoided. [2,p.8ff]
So there is a duty to rescue people in distress. However there is no international right of entry. So if the Italian government wants to close its borders, it has the right to do so regardless of whether or not it pleases outsiders.
The process
On June 12, 2019 the Sea-Watch 3 led by Rackete off the coast of Libya, took 53 people on board. Shortly thereafter she failed before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The German club Sea-Watch has tried to create an emergency application in Italy. Under this procedure the ECHR can intervene in the case of imminent human rights violations and instruct states. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]The ECHR justified its decision by stating that interim measures are only foreseen when there is an immediate risk of irreparable damage. Previously 11 people were allowed to leave the ship due to their state of health. According to the ECHR there were no more people on the ship that were at risk. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Rocket then announced that it would still head for Italian waters because people would not be able to take it anymore. [8] [9] [10]
On June 26, 2019 the Sea-Watch 3 drove despite prohibition into Italian territorial waters. At the harbor entrance there would have been a dramatic accident at the port of Lampedusa. A boat of the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) was pressed by the Sea-Watch 3 against the wall because it was supposed to prevent the Sea-Watch 3 from entering. At least here there is the question of whether the protection of human life was ever important to Rackete. [11] [12] [13]
For her behavior she was arrested by the Italian authorities immediately after landing. Rackete defended the unauthorized entrance to the port of Lampedusa with the fact that the people on board had already been desperate. And she was afraid and feared that people could harm themselves. [14] [15] [16] [17] Shortly thereafter however an Italian investigating judge lifted the house arrest of Rackete again. [18]Stanotte comportamento CRIMINALE della comandante della nave pirata che ha tentato di schiacciare contro la banchina del porto di Lampedusa una motovedetta della Guardia di Finanza, con l’equipaggio a bordo, mettendo a rischio la vita degli agenti. DELINQUENTI!#SeaWatch3 pic.twitter.com/4Zp2kasWMh
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) June 29, 2019
Striking is that no other country was steered for. Instead of going to Tunisia, Egypt, France, Greece or Spain during the long odyssey they had to go ashore in Italy. And surprising is the lifting of the house arrest after she used force against a boat of the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza). It raises the suspicion that it was not about the people but a showdown with the Italian government.
Smuggler or Savior
The people who are to be rescued from distress is legally clear and has an intrinsic value. Of course people in distress should be saved. However anyone who invites non-swimmers or boats that are not suitable for the long crossing to the open sea must also be critically questioned. And at the end there is the question whether ships as the Sea-Watch 3 ultimately cause more harm.Ships regularly request access to Italian ports to land people picked up in the Mediterranean. And it is still questionable why these ships do not drive people to the nearby coast, if they do not collect people directly in the Mediterranean but directly off the coast. Thus these ships behave effectively like human smugglers. And it begs the question of how many people were lured into certain death by this behavior because they ran out of water, food or fuel on the open sea. The shortest route from the Libyan coast to the Italian island of Lampedusa is over 200 km (125 miles) and can not be found without a location system and the next route from the Libyan coast to the Sicilian coast is over 500 km (300 miles) and is out of reach due to an inevitable shortage of water, food and fuel even for a middle boat.
[19]
Recent Italian migration policy has achieved a more humanitarian success with the closure of an active preventive system as fewer people have drowned in the Mediterranean. Between January 1, and March 15, 2018 5,945 people arrived in Italy. Between January 1, and March 15, 2019 it were only 335 or 94 % less. Between October 2017 and January 2018 around 17,500 asylum seekers were rejected. By contrast, in October 2018 until January 2019 25,000 asylum seekers were rejected 43% more. And although the Italian government has promised to deport 500,000 people so far only 500 have been deported per month. [20] [21]
The policy of Italy has therefore a significant influence on the whole situation. And the number of people crossing the Mediterranean has fallen from 172,301 in 2017 to 113,482 in 2018. At the same time the number of those who drowned or went missing in the Mediterranean fell from 3,139 in 2017 to 2,262 in 2018. [22] After that the ships contribute by luring people from Africa to the open sea. And conversely an end to this approach does mean that fewer people drown in the sea.
The Department of Information Security (Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza/DIS) underlines this development with its report for the year 2018. According to them the decline is also due to the fact that fewer NGO ships are traveling in the Mediterranean and that Libyan border guards are increasingly protecting the coast. Both developments are essentially supported by the Italian Government. In addition the Department of Security Information (Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza/DIS) assumes that NGO ships behave like human traffickers and may cooperate with but are at least exploit by human traffickers in Africa. [23,p.89] [24]
Additionaly the Sea-Watch 3 was on the day the 53 people were captured at the Bouri oil field off the coast of Libya. Whether the Sea-Watch 3 has landed there or just drove by and whether it was only occasionally there or all day is also not clear. Striking is the location which is perfectly suitable as a meeting place because of the well visible offshore drilling rig. The Sea-Watch 3 needs no landmarks because of the GPS system a dinghy however does. [25] [26]
[1] SEERECHTSÜBEREINKOMMEN DER VEREINTEN NATIONEN UND ÜBEREINKOMMEN ZUR DURCHFÜHRUNG DES TEILS XI DES SEERECHTSÜBEREINKOMMENS 1998-06-23
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:1998:179:0003:0134:DE:PDF
[2] Bekanntmachung der IMO-Entschließung MSC.167(78) des Schiffssicherheitsausschusses über die Richtlinien für die Behandlung von auf See geretteten Personen (angenommen am 20. Mai 2004)
https://www.bsh.de/DE/THEMEN/Schifffahrt/Nautische_Informationen/Weitere_Informationen/Schifffahrtsvorschriften/Downloads_Schifffahrtsvorschriften/Internationale_Schifffahrtsvorschriften/Beilage_2009-10.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=1
[3] Retter scheitern mit Eilantrag - „Sea-Watch 3“ darf nicht in Italien anlegen 2019-06-25
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/retter-scheitern-mit-eilantrag-sea-watch-3-darf-nicht-in-italien-anlegen/24494088.html
[4] Eilantrag abgelehnt, Einreise verweigert - Flüchtlinge scheitern vor Gericht und müssen auf See bleiben 2019-06-25
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/sea-watch-3-fluechtlinge-scheitern-vor-europaeischem-gerichtshof-fuer-menschenrechte-a-1274294.html
[5] Europäischer Gerichtshof lehnt Sea-Watch-Antrag ab 2019-06-25
https://diepresse.com/home/ausland/welt/5649846/Europaeischer-Gerichtshof-lehnt-SeaWatchAntrag-ab
[6] Eilantrag gegen Italien - "Sea-Watch" scheitert vor Gericht 2019-06-25
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/sea-watch-145.html
[7] Seenotrettung : "Sea-Watch 3" darf nicht in Italien anlegen 2019-06-25
https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2019-06/seenotrettung-sea-watch-3-italien-europaeischer-gerichtshof-menschenrechte
[8] 'Enough, we're coming': Stranded rescue ship heads for Italy without permission 2019-06-26
https://www.thelocal.it/20190626/sea-watch-rescue-ship-heads-for-italy-without-permission
[9] Sea Watch: Kapitänin steuert trotz Verbots Lampedusa an 2019-06-26
https://kurier.at/politik/ausland/sea-watch-kapitaenin-steuert-trotz-verbots-lampedusa-an/400534738
[10] MITTELMEER - Sea-Watch-Kapitänin will Migranten trotz Verbots nach Lampedusa bringen 2019-06-26
https://derstandard.at/2000105420704/Sea-Watch-Kapitaenin-will-Migranten-trotz-Verbots-nach-Lampedusa-bringen
[11] Carola Rackete arrestata, cosa rischia ora la capitana della Sea Watch 3 2019-06-29
https://www.quotidiano.net/cronaca/carola-rackete-arrestata-1.4669876
[12] La Sea Watch si scontra con la motovedetta della Gdf sulla banchina di Lampedusa 2019-06-29
https://youtu.be/yOsHnKXJ_SY
[13] Matteo Salvini: Stanotte comportamento CRIMINALE della comandante della nave pirata che ha tentato di schiacciare contro la banchina del porto di Lampedusa una motovedetta della Guardia di Finanza, con l’equipaggio a bordo, mettendo a rischio la vita degli agenti. DELINQUENTI! 2019-06-28
https://twitter.com/matteosalvinimi/status/1144859183814250496
[14] MIGRANTI - Sea Watch, parla Carola Rackete: «Dovevo entrare in porto, temevo che alcuni migranti potessero suicidarsi» 2019-06-30
https://www.corriere.it/politica/19_giugno_30/dovevo-entrare-portotemevo-che-alcuni-migrantipotessero-suicidarsi-2a0a6448-9aad-11e9-8fdd-d4f7eb4bd62c.shtml
[15] "Sea-Watch"-Kapitänin - Carola Rackete begründet Entscheidung mit hoffnungsloser Lage 2019-06-30
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/carola-rackete-sea-watch-kapitaenin-verteidigt-hafeneinfahrt-a-1275064.html
[16] "Sea Watch 3" - Kapitänin Rackete rechtfertigt Hafeneinfahrt 2019-06-30
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/sea-watch-3-carola-rackete-lampedusa-1.4505310
[17] Rettungsschiff "Sea-Watch 3" - Kapitänin verteidigt Hafeneinfahrt 2019-06-30
http://www.tagesschau.de/inland/sea-watch-183.html
[18] Sea-Watch-Kapitänin - Rackete kommt wieder frei 2019-07-03
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/rackete-sea-watch-freilassung-101.html
[19] people trafficking 2016-03-12
https://youtu.be/TbIc1LZqIAw
[20] 94 Prozent weniger Migranten in Italien eingetroffen 2019-03-18
https://derstandard.at/2000099728659/94-Prozent-weniger-Migranten-in-Italien-eingetroffen?ref=article
[21] Italy rejects record number of asylum applications 2019-02-14
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/14/italy-rejects-record-number-of-asylum-applications
[22] Migration: Weniger Flüchtlinge im Mittelmeer ertrunken 2019-01-03
https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2019-01/migration-fluechtlinge-mittelmeer-gestorben-gesamtzahl-un-fluechtlingshilfswerk
[23] RELAZIONE SULLA POLITICA DELL’INFORMAZIONE PER LA SICUREZZA 2018
https://www.sicurezzanazionale.gov.it/sisr.nsf/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Relazione-2018.pdf
[24] Servizi segreti: “Riduzione navi Ong duro colpo per i trafficanti” 2019-02-28
https://www.ilprimatonazionale.it/politica/servizi-segreti-riduzione-navi-ong-duro-colpo-per-i-trafficanti-106391/
[25] SEA-WATCH 3 - SEARCH & RESCUE VESSEL
https://www.vesselfinder.com/de/vessels/SEA-WATCH-3-IMO-7302225-MMSI-244140096
[26] Bouri Oil Field Port Flag
https://www.fleetmon.com/ports/bouri-oil-field_lybou_7818/?language=de
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