Human Rights Watch calls for coordinated action to improve migrants’ rescue

Rescue operations in the Mediterranean are hampered by poor coordination, disputes over responsibility, disincentives for commercial vessels to conduct rescues, and an emphasis on border enforcement, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper published today.

"It is chilling to think how many of these deaths could have been prevented," said Judith Sunderland, senior Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Saving lives, not deflecting responsibility, needs to be the imperative at sea."

The most notorious example of failed rescue operations occurred in April 2011, known as the "left-to-die boat" case. A disabled migrant boat with 72 people fleeing Libya was ignored and drifted for two weeks in the Mediterranean at a time when the area was heavily patrolled by NATO forces as well as criss-crossed by commercial ships.

By the time the boat drifted back to Libyan shores, 61 people had died. Two more died after arrival. An in-depth inquiry by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly identified a "catalogue of failures" that caused the deaths. Serious questions remain about why the boat was not assisted despite distress alerts and contact with military and commercial vessels, Human Rights Watch said.

The European Union is developing a new European External Border Surveillance System, EUROSUR. It includes rescue at sea as a main objective, but does not include specific guidelines or procedures to ensure this objective is reached.

"Preventing deaths at sea needs to be at the heart of a coordinated European-wide approach to boat migration," Human Rights Watch said. "During the Arab Spring, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said that all overcrowded migrant boats in the Mediterranean should be presumed to be in need of rescue. This idea should inform the approach of the European Union toward the rescue of boat migrants."

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 1,500 people died in the Mediterranean in 2011 alone, making it the deadliest year on record.

Italy, Malta, Greece, Spain, and Libya all have what are called "Search and Rescue" (SAR) Areas for which they are responsible. Each country has a Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) to receive, process, and share information about vessels in distress.

Human Rights Watch however says the system is however far from perfect, nor is it perfectly applied. "The law sets a high standard for the concept of distress, allowing ships to ignore dangerously overcrowded and ill-equipped migrant boats unless there are very clear signals of need for assistance."

IN the 'left-to-die' incident, the Canadian frigate HMCS Charlottetown, participating in NATO's Operation Unified Protector in Libya, assisted a migrant boat back in March 2011 when the crew ascertained that the engine functioned and had sufficient fuel. Though the boat had a "rudimentary steering system" and was "crowded", the Canadian crew determined that their obligations had been met by providing food, water, and blankets.

The next day, the Italian military ship Etna assisted a ship in distress that met the same description, arranging for helicopter transportation for a newborn baby and mother, as well as a woman in labour; while other passengers were subsequently transferred to an Italian coast guard ship and taken to Lampedusa.

"Lack of clarity in the legal framework over where rescued persons should be safely disembarked lead to conflicts, notably between Italy and Malta, and unnecessary delays," Human Rights Watch said.

Malta, which has a large search and rescue region stretching to as far as Crete, has so far not accepted the 2004 amendments to international maritime law, which would oblige it to take in all migrants rescued, irrespectively of whether they are closer to a safe port of call. Malta has refused to participate in Frontex joint patrols on these grounds.

Malta has long insisted that those rescued close to Lampedusa should be disembarked there, while Italy contends that those rescued in Malta's SAR are Malta's responsibility. In September 2011, Italy declared Lampedusa an unsafe port after a fire partially destroyed the reception and detention facility, creating further complications. At this writing, the centre has yet to be reopened.