MEPs will vote, on Thursday 13 July, following a debate on the subject on Wednesday 12 July, on a resolution on search and rescue operations at sea, in which they are expected to call on Member States and the Frontex agency to increase their capacity in terms of specific vessels and equipment to carry out proactive search and rescue operations at sea, according to a draft resolution put forward by the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left groups, unveiled on Tuesday 11 July.
Reacting to the recent sinking of a fishing boat in the Ionian Sea off Pylos, Messinia (Greece), carrying around 750 people, of whom 104 were rescued, and after which 82 bodies were found and the rest missing, the draft resolution also calls on the Commission to assess Member States’ search practices and resources.
The text, supported by the five groups, reaffirms the obligation under the international law of the sea “to assist persons in distress and calls on all Member States, individually, and when acting as Member States of the EU or in relevant international forums, to fully abide by the standards of relevant international law and Union law”.
The MEPs also express their “concerns that despite the large number of people rescued in recent years, the IOM has recorded 27,633 persons missing in the Mediterranean since 2014”. To this end, they will call on the Commission to “assess current Member States’ practices regarding search and rescue operations and to start work immediately on a new, more sustainable, reliable and permanent approach to them, replacing existing ad hoc solutions”.
The Commission is also invited to “provide material, financial and operational support to Member States in order to enhance the overall capacity for saving lives at sea and coordinating search and rescue operations”.
For their part, the Member States and Frontex must “enhance proactive search and rescue operations by providing sufficient vessels and equipment specifically dedicated to search and rescue operations and personnel along the routes where they can make an effective contribution to saving lives” and to “make full use of all vessels able to assist in search and rescue operations, including vessels operated by NGOs”.
NGO ships and merchant shipping “should not be a substitute for the due fulfilment by the Member States and the Union of their search and rescue obligations”, the draft text goes on to stress, calling for the establishment of “a comprehensive EU search and rescue mission implemented by the Member States’ competent authorities and Frontex”.
In addition, the draft resolution calls on the Commission, Member States and Frontex to ensure “that disembarkation takes place only in a place of safety in accordance with relevant international and Union law, and to ensure that such a port is the nearest safe port available for disembarkation”.
Danger for migrants and NGOs in Libya
In a press release published on 10 July, SOS Méditerranée and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned that they had come under fire from the Libyan coastguard on 7 July during a rescue operation at sea. The IFRC and SOS Méditerranée “call upon all governments to ensure humanitarians can provide lifesaving support at sea without risking their lives”.
Link to the draft resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/80m (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)