In Fortress Europe, Saving Migrants From Drowning Could Land You in Jail
A trial in Italy threatens volunteers who rescued people at sea with up to two decades in jail. The case shows how Fortress Europe is cracking down on even basic, lifesaving solidarity with migrants.
The ten Iuventa crew members charged with facilitating unauthorized entry into Italy. Charges against six of the ten have been dropped. (Paul Lovis Wagner / Iuventa Crew)
On a summer morning in August 2017, Kathrin Schmidt was notified of a distress call. The Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) directed her volunteer search-and-rescue ship, the Iuventa, to an incident where two people had been taken aboard a larger coast guard boat. The Iuventa was asked if it could convey the pair to port so that the bigger vessel could continue answering calls.
The two men from Syria were duly taken aboard, where they remained until the Iuventa was instructed to take them to Lampedusa, an island to the south of Sicily. “On the way we were asked to search for another distress case,” recalls Kathrin, the Iuventa’s then head of mission. “It was strange because there was no notification on [official notification system] INMARSAT.”
The ship swept down the oddly large search area it had been assigned, stretching from Lampedusa to almost the edge of Tunisian waters. The MRCC promised helicopter assistance; but hours later, it still hadn’t materialized. Eventually the Iuventa was instructed to break off the search and head for Lampedusa, despite Kathrin having argued for a rendezvous with the coast guard at sea to hand over their two passengers. It was peak crossing season, with the number of deaths so far that year pushing three thousand , and they were eager to return to the search. “Weather indicated a huge number of boats would be likely,” Kathrin recalls:
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