CIVICUS discusses migration policies and civil society responses across Europe with Janna Sauerteig, Mobilisation and Advocacy Manager at SOS Humanity.

SOS Humanity is a civil society organisation that defends the rights of migrants on land and at sea. Founded in Germany in 2015, its mission is to ensure no one drowns while fleeing and everyone is treated with dignity. It has carried out search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean since 2016, helping to save over 38,000 people from drowning and bringing them to safety. It also documents violations of the rights of migrants and asylum seekers and raises awareness for political change. Its work is increasingly hampered by the rise of far-right forces pushing for more restrictive migration policies.

What’s the situation in the central Mediterranean?

The central Mediterranean is one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. At least 1,357 people have died there so far in 2024, while 54,931 have managed to reach Europe by this route. In 2023, the numbers were even higher, with 2,526 recorded drownings and 157,651 arrivals. According to a UNICEF study published in 2023, an average of 11 children drowned each week trying to cross.

There are many risks involved in fleeing across the central Mediterranean. The boats are often ill-equipped to withstand high waves and heavy swells. They are typically overcrowded inflatable rubber dinghies, small wooden boats or metal boats that sink quickly. They lack essential safety equipment such as life jackets and often carry insufficient food and water.

Even calm seas can be deadly if people are left adrift for too long. Dehydration is a life-threatening risk, particularly in the summer. To make matters worse, many of those on board don’t know how to swim, meaning that only a thin layer of plastic, wood or metal prevents them drowning.

The so-called Libyan and the Tunisian Coast Guard also pose significant risk, as they often intercept boats in distress and return migrants to those countries. According to the International Organisation for Migration, 19,010 people have been intercepted and returned to Libya this year. These returns violate international maritime law, which requires rescued people to be taken to a safe place; neither Libya nor Tunisia can be classified as such.

Since 2016, European states have trained, funded and supported the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, enabling forced interceptions and returns to a country where people are subjected to serious human rights violations. By cooperating with unsafe third countries, the European Union (EU) is also complicit in violations of international law and human rights abuses at sea, and in Libya and Tunisia. SOS Humanity calls on the EU to end this cooperation.

What’s SOS Humanity’s mission and how does it work?

Our main mission is to rescue people in distress in the central Mediterranean. Our ship, Humanity 1, coordinates with other CSOs and initiatives such as Alarm Phone, an emergency hotline for people in distress, and the aerial reconnaissance teams of Pilotes Volontaires and Sea-Watch to identify boats in distress, which European states often choose to ignore.

Once alerted, the Humanity 1 crew starts a search and informs the relevant authorities of the situation. When a vessel is located, they approach in speedboats, hand out life jackets and bring people to safety on Humanity 1. Our crew provides medical care, food, water and basic supplies, as well as emergency psychological support, and gives vulnerable groups special spaces and extra care.

Our teams also document refugees’ stories. Our recently published report, Humanity over board, shares first-hand experiences of survivors, their complex reasons for fleeing their countries and the obstacles they face due to the policies of the EU and EU member states. Our aim is to raise awareness and push for change. We advocate for EU compliance with maritime law and call for an end to restrictive policies that jeopardise the safety and wellbeing of those rescued.

What obstacles do you face?

Since 2017, we have witnessed more and more cases of harassment and criminalisation of search and rescue organisations. The situation has worsened under the law passed by Italy’s far-right government in January 2023.

Until 2023, long delays in providing a safe place for survivors to land were sadly the norm. With its new Piantedosi Law, the Italian government has changed tactics: instead of delaying arrival, it systematically allocates unnecessarily distant ports. This creates additional hardship for survivors and keeps rescue ships away from the rescue area for several days. SOS Humanity has now filed a lawsuit with the civil court in Rome to challenge these practices. Obstruction of civil society’s search and rescue operations is clearly incompatible with international maritime law, human rights law and EU law.

Since the law came into force, rescue ships have been detained 26 times, often on unfounded charges, and have lost over 630 operational days due to detention and long voyages. Our ship, Humanity 1, has been detained twice, most recently in March 2024. In a significant ruling, in June 2024 an Italian civilian court overturned the detention of Humanity 1, stating that the crew had acted lawfully to save lives, while the so-called Libyan Coast Guard has consistently violated the rights of refugees by returning them to Libya instead of a safe place as required by international law. After years of constant criminalisation of our work and manipulation of the facts, this decision seems to finally set the record straight.

What’s behind the recent regressive changes in migration policies across Europe?

Far-right narratives are gaining ground in Europe. As right-wing and far-right parties gain power, as has been the case in Italy, they are cracking down on the rights of migrants and those who advocate for them. National and EU policies have begun to reflect these extreme ideologies, putting the rights of people on the move at considerable risk.

EU member states are increasingly neglecting their legal obligation to rescue those in distress at sea and to ensure they can claim asylum. Instead, they are implementing policies of deterrence and deliberate neglect, leading to suffering and avoidable deaths at Europe’s external borders.

Changes in 2023 to the EU pact on migration and asylum represent the most serious attack on the right to asylum in decades. The pact formalises some of the most inhumane practices adopted by European member states in their deterrence policies against those seeking protection, and represents a historic low in the protection of human rights and dignity.

What changes in migration policies do you advocate?

We advocate for migration policies that focus on human rights, security and solidarity across Europe. The EU currently spends €887.7 million (approx. US$946 million) on partnerships with countries such as Albania, Libya and Tunisia to restrict access to asylum in Europe. We argue that these funds should instead support a European-funded, state-coordinated, lifesaving and strictly non-military search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean. This programme would provide safe and legal pathways for migrants and absolute protection of asylum rights. It would ensure EU member states share responsibility fairly, while allowing protection-seekers the freedom to choose their host country.

The EU must end all cooperation with other countries that aims to discourage people from seeking protection. This includes stopping funding, training, equipping and supporting the so-called Libyan and Tunisian Coast Guard. European countries should uphold international law by ensuring search and rescue operations are coordinated by state authorities and survivors can disembark promptly in a safe place.