A dozen organisations are proposing an EU-led rescue programme in the Mediterranean. The Left Party in the Bundestag had already campaigned for this in 2020. However, there is one obstacle.
On the occasion of the vote on the new EU Commission on Wednesday, 14 organisations presented the ‘Mare Solidale’ concept, a European rescue programme to end the deaths in the Mediterranean. Central to this is the use of the existing Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) in Brussels, which is responsible for humanitarian operations as part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. According to the proposal, the ERCC could become the coordination centre for sea rescue, with resources and personnel from the civil protection agencies of the EU Member States.
The programme would be based on international agreements such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Maritime Search and Rescue Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. These agreements oblige organisations to rescue people in distress at sea and bring them ashore in safe places. The organisations involved emphasise that current landing practices in Libya and Tunisia do not meet these requirements, as neither asylum procedures nor the protection of basic human rights are guaranteed there.
By using the ERCC, existing capacities could be better coordinated and – as is currently the case with the right-wing government in Italy – the politicisation of rescue measures could be reduced. To this end, a unit should be created in the ERCC that takes over Frontex’s monitoring capacities. This includes aircraft, drones or reconnaissance satellites as well as modern applications for AI-supported analysis of the data obtained.
Civil protection in international waters
A central point of the proposal is the demand that the sea rescue programme be clearly separated from tasks such as border protection and law enforcement. Currently, such dual mandates, for example with Frontex or national coastguards, often hinder life-saving measures, the proposal explains. This is particularly drastic in cases where information on distress at sea is not utilised or people are illegally sent back to unsafe regions.
Coordinated by the ERCC, rescue units from non-police civil protection resources could patrol international waters, especially in areas where most emergencies occur. Existing Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) in the EU Mediterranean countries should lead the operations, as they have the necessary expertise and overview.
If there is no functioning MRCC structure in a region or there is evidence of human rights violations, the nearest functioning control centre would take over coordination. This passage in the proposal is aimed at the so-called coast guard in Libya, which has been receiving an MRCC subsidised by EU funds since 2018, but whose equipment is seeping away into dark channels.
In addition to the rescue programme, ‘Mare Solidale’ proposes the establishment of open initial reception facilities where rescued people can receive medical care, support and information on further steps after their arrival. A temporary protection mechanism could be introduced on the basis of positive experiences, such as those made in Germany with the reception of refugees from Ukraine. This would allow those rescued to travel on to EU countries of their choice within three months before starting a permanent residence procedure. At the same time, such a mechanism would reduce costs in the long term, as less traumatic migration routes could reduce healthcare expenditure and enable faster integration into the labour market.
Programme to be cheaper than Frontex
The cost of such a rescue programme is estimated at €240 million per year, which corresponds to just 0.13% of the EU’s annual budget and is significantly lower than the current expenditure on border protection and surveillance. This year’s Frontex budget alone amounts to €928 million. Since 2007, the EU Commission has also spent €3.5 billion on the research and development of new border technologies.
According to data from the Italian Navy, Operation ‘Mare Nostrum’, which Italy carried out independently in 2014, has shown that state-organised rescue operations save lives. In just ten months, over 156,000 people were rescued from distress at sea at a cost of around €9 million per month. After ‘Mare Nostrum’ was cancelled under pressure from the EU, the death toll rose dramatically.
The signatory organisations, including SOS Humanity, Mission Lifeline, Mediterranea Saving Humans, United 4 Rescue and the Alarm Phone, want to use the proposal to show that dying at sea is a political decision. The EU has the means and the mandate to set up a rescue programme. The only thing missing is the will to implement it.
German Left Party already ordered expert opinion on the matter
The German left-wing parliamentary group had already tabled key points of the proposal for a ‘Mare Solidale’ in the Bundestag in 2020. In addition to the ERCC, the additional pool of resources (‘rescEU’) for sea rescue should also be used to provide assistance with equipment or ‘transport resources’ among the member states in situations where available capacities are insufficient, a proposal reads. The financing of ships for a state EU sea rescue service could also take place within the framework of the ‘EU Integrated Political Crisis Response Scheme’ (IPCR) .
The German government at the time, consisting of the Social Democrats and Conservatives, had both the left-wing parliamentary group and the Greens tabled motions in favour of a state sea rescue service. The responsible ministries did not examine the possibilities for implementation, nor did the coalition in negotiations for new EU funds advocate including funds for search and rescue missions.
An expert report commissioned by Die Linke from the scientific services in the Bundestag revealed the biggest obstacle to the proposals. According to the report, governments would have to decide to define the drowning of refugees in the Mediterranean as a ‘crisis’. Member states affected by this can only then activate the EU crisis response mechanism. Malta and Italy, for example, might then use other instruments and funding, including the ‘rescEU‘ programme.
Published in German in „nd“.
Image: Assets of the operation ‘Mare Nostrum’. Italy was the only EU member state to set up a state-run sea rescue programme in 2014. Brussels put pressure on it to end.
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