Sea rescue in the Mediterranean and the role of the EU. With Captain Dr. Klaus Vogel

At the EU summit in late June, Heads of State and Government adopted a series of decisions aimed at tightening migration policy. The new Italian government wants to reduce the number of arriving refugees to zero and Malta also repeatedly denied the entry of ships with rescued boat people. The situation for rescue organizations like SOS MEDITERRANEE, which uses civilian ships to rescue people from distress, has changed radically in recent months. Despite this, the rescue ship Aquarius, chartered by SOS MEDITERRANEE and operated together with MSF, re-entered the waters off Libya at the beginning of August. The ship has already saved almost 30,000 people over the past two years.

Human rights organizations accuse the EU of violating the UN Charter on Human Rights and the Geneva Refugee Convention through its action in the Mediterranean and regard the blockade of civilian rescue ships as illegal. What is the situation on the ground, what hurdles are the rescue organizations facing? What measures must the European Union, together with the other riparian states, take to improve the rescue of the sea and provide adequate protection for the refugees? What has been the experience of SOS MEDITERRANEE during rescue missions, what will happen next? We would like to discuss these and other questions with you and Captain. Klaus Vogel discuss. In 2015, he founded the organization SOS MEDITERRANEE with a group of comrades in charge and led the first mission of Aquarius.

We look forward to your participation and ask you to register by 09.10. online (see below) or by e-mail.

Please note: this event will take place in German.

By attending the event, our audience agrees that the photos taken there may be used for publicity purposes.

The event is funded by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs within the framework of the federal program “Democracy Live!”.