December 2021 Update – Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean and fundamental rights

In the past, a significant number of migrants in distress at sea were rescued by civil society vessels. These vessels seek to reduce fatalities and bring rescued migrants to safety in the European Union. Since 2018, national authorities initiated administrative and criminal proceedings against crew members or vessels. National authorities also undertook initiatives to limit access to European ports, causing delays in disembarkation and leaving rescued people at sea for more than 24 hours waiting for a safe port.

• NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and legal proceedings against them
• Difficulties in finding a safe port

NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and legal proceedings against them

FRA published a note in October 2018 on Fundamental rights considerations: NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and criminal investigations. FRA updated the two tables accompanying this note which describe criminal and administrative proceedings against non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or other private entities deploying search and rescue (SAR) vessels in June 2019, June 2020, December 2020 and June 2021. Since June 2021, one new legal proceeding was initiated (nine in total this year). The map below illustrates the position and situation of civil society SAR vessels and aircraft as of 10 December 2021. It includes those who had to stop their activities. It indicates past and ongoing legal proceedings against the vessels and/or their crew members.

Map showing NGO ships involved in SAR operations in the Mediterranean Sea between 2016 and 10 December 2021

Due to ongoing criminal and administrative proceedings, vessel seizures, as well as mandatory maintenance work, many of these assets are blocked at ports and thus cannot carry out SAR operations. Out of 17 assets, 12 are currently operating (assets in green on the map). Eight perform SAR operations. The remaining are vessels and reconnaissance aircraft undertaking monitoring activities. Five are blocked in ports pending legal proceedings (see assets in red on the map). One vessel, highlighted in yellow, is currently docked due to other technical reasons. The map also displays the vessels and/or their crew subject to past or current legal proceedings.

The updated two tables accompanying the 2018 note incorporate new developments during the past six months. Table 1 provides an overview of all NGOs and their vessels and reconnaissance aircraft involved in SAR operations since 2016 in the Mediterranean. It also shows if they have been subject to legal proceedings. In the past six months, three new NGO rescue vessels (‘Nadir’, ‘Rise Above’ and ‘ResQPeople’) started their operations.

In addition to the few civil society rescue vessels deployed, State vessels and commercial ships also conduct rescue activities. In the past six months, in order to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 rescued people were kept in quarantine on board before landing or in ports right after their disembarkation (for more on quarantine vessels, see FRA’s periodic Bulletins on migration-related fundamental rights concerns). Furthermore, Italian health authorities required NGO crew members to undergo a two-weeks quarantine on board after the disembarkation of rescued people.

Table 2 provides details on ongoing or closed investigations and administrative or criminal proceedings against private entities involved in SAR operations as of December 2021. It shows that some 59 proceedings were initiated since 2016 by Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and Spain. Since June 2021, one new legal case was opened in Italy, in addition to eight legal proceedings that started in the first half of the year. The new case concerns a vessel and consists of administrative seizures due to technical irregularities relating to maritime security which were identified after port authority inspections. Overall, the most common issues detected by port authorities concerned the excessive number of passengers transported, ship assets not working properly, having too many life jackets on board, having inadequate sewage systems for the number of potentially rescued persons, as well as for causing environmental pollution. No new cases were opened against individual crew members based on the charge of ‘aiding and abetting illegal immigration’.

In the previous update, FRA reported about legal proceedings against the NGO vessel ‘Sea Watch 4’. After its seizure for the second time in May 2020 due to the appeal by the Italian Coast Guard, it was released in September 2021. Similarly, in June 2021, the NGO ship ‘Open Arms’ was released after being blocked for several months at port due to technical irregularities related to maritime security.

The applicable EU and international legal and policy framework remains unchanged. The original note’s related legal analysis is therefore not reproduced. It can be consulted via this link. All information is up-to-date until 10 December 2021.

FRA will follow closely any further developments and report in its Bulletins on migration-related fundamental rights concerns for 21 selected EU Member States and two candidate countries.

Download Table 2: Legal proceedings by EU Member States against private entities involved in SAR operations in the Mediterranean Sea (10 December 2021) (pdf, 291 KB) >>

Difficulties in finding a safe port

Since 2018, FRA publishes data on vessels that were not immediately allowed to disembark migrants and waited at sea to be assigned a safe port for more than 24 hours. This can be found in its annual Fundamental Rights Report (2019 – see table on p. 130, 2020 – see table on p. 113, and 2021 – see Annex). In 2021, as in previous years, rescue boats in the Central Mediterranean continued to remain at sea for a long time waiting for authorisation to enter a safe port. Delays in disembarkation risk the safety and physical integrity of rescued persons. The overview table in the tab ‘Table 3 – Vessels without a safe port’ describes instances when vessels with rescued people had to remain at sea for more than a day waiting for the assignment of a safe port. In 2021 (as of 10 December), 28 such instances were reported. There were 22 in 2020, 28 in 2019 and 16 in 2018.

The overview table in the tab 'Table - Vessels without a safe port' shows that in 28 instances, 8,293 rescued persons (including at least 2,500 children) had to remain at sea for more than a day until the national authorities allowed them to dock. In some cases, they waited while multiple rescue operations were carried out. In nine cases, they waited for a week or more. Among those disembarked in Italy, only a few were relocated to other EU Member States, partly due to the restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many asylum seekers, refugees and migrants rescued in the Central Mediterranean were picked up by the Libyan coastguards and brought back to Libya. Of those who left Libya by sea in 2021, 28,636 disembarked in Libya (until mid-November), compared to 11,891 in 2020, 9,225 in 2019 and almost 15,000 in 2018. Italy renewed its cooperation agreement with Libya in July 2021. Malta signed a memorandum of understanding with Libya in May 2020 to cooperate in operations against irregular migration. As the political situation in Libya deteriorated, in July 2021, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency reiterated their call for states to refrain from returning to Libya any persons rescued at sea.

Source: FRA, 2021

Notes:

* At port due to COVID-19 restrictions, maintenance or other reasons

-  Information not applicable either because the flag state is no longer relevant or the vessel was deployed after the date indicated in the column

♦ Vessel de-flagged

Grey shading = vessels which have stopped SAR.