Open Arms vessel and the rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean

Author(s)
Ms Carvalho Dantas, of the Republican Parliamentary Group
Publication Year
2019
In her speech the deputy denounces the clumsy and late management by the national government of the situation of the Open Arms vessel and the migrants rescued in the Mediterranean in late August. She considers that such mismanagement is a defining moment of the current difficult situation regarding the compliance and guarantee of human rights in Europe.
Quote: "“Negar un puerto para desembarcar o devolver personas rescatadas en el mar que han arriesgado sus vidas y las de sus familias huyendo de miserias provocadas casi todas por el norte rico global no es solo miserable y deshumano, es también ilegal; sí, sí, es ilegal, y digo por qué. Los Estados incumplen leyes, tratados, acuerdos internacionales, violan la Declaración Universal de los Derechos Humanos, violan la Convención de Ginebra de 1951 y su Carta de Derecho Universal; violan la Carta de Derechos Fundamentales de la Unión Europea, violan también el Convenio Europeo de Derechos Humanos, señorías, violan la Convención de Naciones Unidas sobre el derecho del mar, violan el Convenio sobre búsqueda y rescate marino, todo esto, pero lo que más violan es la ética y la moral.”
Translated quote: “Denying access to a port for disembarkation or returning people rescued at sea who have risked their lives and those of their relatives fleeing from misery caused almost all by the rich global north is not only miserable and dehumanizing, it is also illegal; yes, yes, it is illegal, and I shall say why. States violate laws, treaties, international agreements, they violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they violate the 1951 Geneva Convention and its Charter of Universal Law; they violate the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, they also violate the European Convention on Human Rights, ladies and gentlemen, they violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, they violate the Convention on Marine Search and Rescue, all of this, but what they violate most is ethics and morals.”