Research in Sicily finds that anti-immigration policies don’t slow the flow of immigrants, but do hurt local residents in communities where migrants first arrive.
European states have the legal and moral obligation to resume search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Spain’s Salvamento Maritimo should lead the way.
Carola Rackete, captain of an NGO search and rescue ship, was arrested by Italian authorities when landing in Italy. She isn’t the first to be criminalised for trying to save people at sea.
Gibraltar’s decision to terminate permission for the Aquarius to conduct operations in the Mediterranean is the latest example of national politics undermining rescue at sea.
Although Ecowas and the AU made sure that Yahya Jammeh stepped down after losing the elections in The Gambia, caution is warranted in assuming this heralds a trend against African dictatorships.
Leader of Research Group “The Production of Knowledge on Migration” at the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück University
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement and Director of the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity, University of Birmingham