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2024

Search and rescue operations and fundamental rights - June 2024 update

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights regularly collects data on the operations of NGO vessels involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean. This includes any legal proceedings against them, as well as any difficulties in disembarking migrants in safe ports. This paper provides an overview of criminal investigations and other legal proceedings initiated by European Union (EU) Member States against civil society organisations deploying search and rescue vessels and aircraft in the Mediterranean and/or against individual crew members. The latest update covers the period from 2018 up until the end of May 2024.

Several rescue vessels deployed by civil society organisations were unable to carry out SAR operations following inspections, investigations or the detention of ships by port authorities.

In other cases, crew members or civil society actors faced criminal proceedings related to their SAR activities.

Such criminal proceedings, as well as administrative measures against deployed vessels—like blocking ships in ports due to technical irregularities relating to maritime security or temporarily detaining them for contravening national law—have a chilling effect and intimidate civil society actors.

Out of the 17 NGO vessels which were still active on 31 May 2024, eight vessels were at sea. The Sea-Eye 4 was blocked in port due to ongoing legal proceedings. The other eight vessels were undergoing maintenance (see Figure).

In May 2024, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority issued five decisions banning civil society deployed aircraft from taking off for search operations at sea from five airports in Sicily: Lampedusa, Palermo Bocca di Falco, Palermo Punta Raisi, Pantelleria, and Trapani. On 22 May 2024, the NGO Sea Watch was fined over 2,000 EUR for continuing to fly the Seabird.

Figure 1 – NGO assets involved in SAR operations in the Mediterranean Sea between August 2014 and 31 May 2024, whether operational or not, whether facing legal proceedings or not

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The figure shows that eight vessels and three aircraft are operational, 25 assets have been stopped before 31 May 2024, whereas one vessel (Sea-Eye 4) is blocked in the Port of Trapani, and eight vessels are under maintenance.

Source: FRA (2024) based on public sources and civil society input

Since 2017, Germany, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, and Spain have initiated 81 administrative or criminal proceedings in total affecting SAR operations by civil society actors. The majority concern measures against SAR vessels; only one out of five measures concern criminal proceedings against the staff working for the NGOs deploying the vessels or against the crew.

Table 1 – Active and non-active assets deployed by civil society: overview of legal proceedings, 2017 – 31 May 2024, five EU Member States

 

Vessels which faced legal proceedings

Vessels which faced no legal proceedings

Aircraft which faced legal proceedings

Aircraft which faced no legal proceedings

Total

Active assets (including those under maintenance)

12

5

2

1

20

Inactive assets

14

10

1

 

25

Total assets

26

15

3

1

45

Source: FRA (2024) based on public sources and civil society input.

Annex 1 lists the ongoing and closed administrative and criminal proceedings against NGO rescue vessels, aircraft and/or their crew members, as reviewed by FRA based on publicly available sources and communication with civil society actors.

Most closed cases ended with an acquittal, the release of the confiscated or detained vessel, or were discontinued due to lack of evidence. In some cases, NGOs agreed to pay a fine and waited until the authorities allowed their vessel to leave the port.

Since July 2023, 18 new legal cases have been opened – all in Italy. These cases involve fines ranging from 2,000 to 10,000 EUR and the temporary blocking of vessels in ports (usually for 20 days), in application of Italy’s Decree No. 1/2023, converted into Law No. 15/2023. This legislation imposes strict requirements on civil society SAR operations, including the obligation for SAR vessels to proceed to designated ports, which are often distant from rescue areas. Additionally, the legislation requires that SAR vessels proceed immediately to the assigned port after each rescue, thereby limiting their ability to rescue other groups of people in distress over the course of several days.

The NGOs that faced sanctions refused to head to the designated ports or decided to rescue more groups of people in distress at sea. In seven cases, sanctions by Italian authorities were allegedly imposed on vessels for not having followed the instructions of the Libyan Coast Guard.

No new cases were opened against individual crew members for aiding and abetting irregular immigration. After seven years, the Italian judiciary dismissed the “Iuventa“ case, which concerned charges against personnel working for the NGOs Jugend Rettet, Save The Children, and Médecins Sans Frontières.

Legal actions against NGOs and volunteers involved in SAR at sea, based on domestic criminal or administrative law, must be implemented in accordance with the relevant international, Council of Europe, EU fundamental rights law, and refugee law standards. This requires distinguishing between smugglers and those enforcing the human rights imperative of saving lives at sea, whether they are acting out of humanitarian considerations and/or following international legal obligations for rescue at sea. National authorities and courts must find the right balance between applicable international and EU law, and national law. The 2017 UNHCR guidance on search and rescue operations at sea, including the non-penalisation of those taking part in these activities, and the UNHCR legal considerations on the roles and responsibilities of States in relation to rescue at sea, non-refoulement, and access to asylum(December 2022), provide useful guidance in this regard.

FRA will monitor further developments closely and continue to provide regular updates.

For more information, see the following FRA publications: