SOS-Méditeranée Germany demands state rescue at sea from the new government coalition

The refugee aid organization SOS-Méditeranée Germany has called for a state rescue at sea to bring migrants to Europe. "The new federal government must work to ensure that there is a state-organized sea rescue program for the EU," said the new managing director Maike Röttger to the Protestant press service. "Otherwise people will keep dying."

In the past few weeks there has been a "renewed alarming level of escalation". For example, the EU-backed Libyan coast guard threatened ships owned by private sea rescue organizations. In addition, the number of migrants who died while sailing across the central Mediterranean rose to 1,300 this year. "This means that on average, someone drowns every six hours." Italian authorities registered more than 63,000 Mediterranean migrants as of December 7th. That is almost 100 percent more than in 2020.

In their coalition agreement , the SPD, Greens and FDP had spoken out in favor of returning the sea rescue of migrants to the state. To this end, the Ampel-Coalition wants to use the EU border protection agency: “Frontex should take an active part in sea rescue within the scope of the mandate.” It is “a civilizational and legal obligation not to let people drown”. In addition, the new government is also striving to promote “civilian sea rescue” and a “fair sharing of responsibility between the countries bordering the Mediterranean in sea rescue”.

Organization wants to go to the Mediterranean with its own ship
In the coming year there could be another private ship in the Mediterranean Sea to take in migrants. According to Röttger, SOS Méditerranée Germany will break away from the international network and acquire its own ship. "In the current situation we need as many ships as possible." The new ship should be able to accommodate up to 250 migrants. Compared to other ships, it offers less space, but it is faster.

In the spring, a spokeswoman for SOS Méditerranée, when asked by Junge Freiheit, confirmed that their crew always bring migrants rescued from distress to Europe, even if Libyan authorities have agreed to admit them.

Source: Junge Freiheit