Sea Rescue in the Mediterranean in Times of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Watch the full recording of the webinar on the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for the renunciation of the EU’s responsibility towards migrants on boats in distress in the Mediterranean.

In the central Mediterranean, a dangerous rescue gap is actively being created. One of the greatest challenges to tackle during the Covid-19 crisis is the systematic withdrawal of European authorities from this area. The results of European countries no longer respecting their legal search-and-rescue obligations within European Search and Rescue (SAR) zones include pushing boats back to North Africa, where especially in Libya migrants are met with conditions previously described by international organisations such as Human Rights Watch and the UNHCR as violations of human rights.

In this webinar, we discuss together with Simeon Leisch from the emergency hotline Watch The Med – Alarmphone, Lucia Gennari from civic sea rescue mission Mediterranea Saving Humans, and Cédric Fettouche from sea-eye, the abrogation of the EU responsibility in this area. We will ask about the difficulties search-and-rescue missions are now facing in the Mediterranean, what migrants pushed back to North African shores have to contend with, and what happens to the bodies of those who have lost their lives in the highly risky attempt to cross the Mediterranean.