Restoring Humanity at Sea
Over 31,300 people have died or been reported missing in the Mediterranean Sea over the last decade. In 2024 alone, the number of people who died or went missing was at least 2,300.
The European Union should be prioritizing search and rescue in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, it has largely abdicated its responsibility and instead seemingly adopted an abhorrent policy of deterrence by drowning. Humanitarian groups have conducted rescue operations to fill the void.
In a new feature essay, Ship of Humanity, HRW’s Judith Sunderland recounts her experience aboard one of the last missions of the Geo Barents, a rescue ship operated by the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in September 2024.
In two operations, the MSF team rescued 206 people, mainly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Syria, despite the interference of a Libyan patrol boat that at one point threatened to open fire. The Italian authorities subsequently ordered the ship detained at port for 60 days for not complying with orders from Libyan authorities, among other reasons.
In December, MSF announced it would no longer use the Geo Barents, citing Italian laws and policies that make it “impossible to continue with the current operational model.”
So as another humanitarian mission pauses in the Mediterranean, what does that mean for the many people making the dangerous journey to flee hardship and abuse in hopes of reaching safety?
It’s not great.
Despite overwhelming evidence of horrific detention and abuse of migrants in Libya, the EU supports the Libyan forces’ efforts to detect boats and pull people back, notably through the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex providing aerial surveillance over the central Mediterranean. It is now replicating this model with other countries like Tunisia and Lebanon, where people face abuse, including the risk of expulsion despite the risk of further harm.
In October 2024, Human Rights Watch opened the #WithHumanity campaign calling on Frontex to take concrete steps to use its technology and expertise to save lives, such as monitoring distress cases and providing assistance when needed.
These are people “moving towards a future they want to build,” Sunderland writes. The EU should be offering safety and protection rather than leaving people vulnerable to abuse and death.
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Writer at Heart & Soul Theatre Company
6 天前WHAT ABOUT RESTORING HUMANITY IN DUBLIN WHICH YOU KNOW ABOUT.??THE UNION AND EMPLOYER CORRUPTION AT BELFAST DOCKS, RE ASBESTOS PUTS THE UK POSTAL SCANDAL IN THE HA'PPENY PLACE Some background, my first play JUSTICE toured NI and was in the Belfast and Dublin Theatre Festivals plus a week at the Tron in Glasgow. This was in 1992. However, when I wrote The Judas Goat, censorship set in. This play, along with my Belfast Memoir categorizes the mindset, thinking and censorship of the august establishment bodies in Ireland. All deny this happened and censor the Truth. They would. They show how the Belfast Dockers were ordered by their Corrupt Union Branch, and the Employers to discharge Asbestos without protection to save the employers money. This was done through a Union and Employers Court, which named itself THE JOINT DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE. See the file DOC004 on linkedin for proof. Human Rights in Ireland are a sick joke. The case in the file showing a Belfast Docker being sacked, and his appeal, is my own. It's towards the end of the file. THIS TRUE STORY HAPPENED AT BELFAST DOCKS 50 YEARS AGO I also sent this message to the Belfast and Dublin Law Societies, who will do nothing to expose this scandal.
Advocate. Writer. Educator. Facilitator.
6 天前The Mediterranean crisis highlights how EU policies prioritize deterrence over human life, forcing desperate people into greater danger. Ending Geo Barents’ operations is yet another barrier to lifesaving efforts. Migration won’t stop—those fleeing war and poverty will continue risking everything. Instead of criminalizing rescue missions and outsourcing border enforcement to countries with human rights abuses, the EU must invest in safe migration pathways and humanitarian efforts. We must demand accountability and shift the narrative—these are not statistics but human beings seeking survival. Supporting efforts like #WithHumanity is essential to ensuring migration policies respect human dignity.
TESOL Instructor / MLL Teacher / writer
1 周I always used to give money to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) but I think they are (presumably unintentionally) making the problem worse. I think sometimes charitable organizations get exploited by governments and also good people can be taken in by those with evil intent. Maybe more immigrants are starting out in hopes that they will be picked up by a larger ship.
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