Sea-Watch (international)

The EU Commission & @magnusbrunner.bsky.social dropped a new Frontex Regulation today - and it is as repelling as expected. You want to know how the #ICE Europe edition will look like. Get into it with us ⬇️ (1/7)

Don't be fooled by the language of “security”. Real security means affordable housing, functioning public services, freedom from violence, and the protection of fundamental rights. We cannot sacrifice human rights in the name of protecting them. (6/7)

The proposal is not yet law. Next come negotiations between the EU Parliament and Council. But more walls, surveillance, and deportations will never create a Europe of safety and solidarity. We will resist this expansion of violence. No more power to Frontex. #AbolishFrontex

The Commission's language to justify this expansion is striking: "external threats", "security crises", "dangerous migration". Its framing echoes far-right narratives used by fascist movements & parties, which are now shaping EU policy.

Frontex has faced serious allegations involving illegal pullbacks, human rights violations, and cooperation with Libyan actors implicated in crimes against humanity. A case concerning Frontex's involvement in unlawful returns to Libya is pending before the EU General Court. (5/7)

Since 2004, Frontex has been the EU's border agency. Now the Commission wants to expand its powers: more armed border guards, surveillance & deportations. Frontex is to become a violent squad to completely shut down EU doors to people seeking protection, even beyond EU borders.

As people across the EU protest rising living costs, underfunded schools & unaffordable housing, the Commission proposes €12 BILLION for Frontex for 2028–2034! The EU's rights agency only gets €26 million/year! Billions for borders, pennies for people:

After 3 more days at sea, we have finally arrived in Taranto! Yesterday, the Italian authorities assigned us to an even more distant port at the last minute, even though they knew that every extra day at sea unnecessarily prolongs the survivors’ distress. All the best to them!

Great news: 101 people are aboard our Sea-Watch 5! Our crew has just rescued another 36 people, including children & pregnant women. Together, survivors and crew are now heading to Crotone - the port assigned by Italy, days of travel away. But today, we celebrate 101 lives saved!

Sea-Watch (international)@en.sea-watch.org

🚨 More than 30 people forced into the water! Early this morning, our Sea-Watch 5 crew was rescuing 65 people from a fiberglass boat. Soon after, a fast boat carrying six armed men approached the scene. 📸 Adrian Pourviseh

The EU funds this violence. We have documented these incidents for years. EU authorities are aware, but they keep cooperating with Libya and are now looking to expand that cooperation to East Libya.

The EU is responsible for these actions. These are real people whose lives are at risk.

As the armed men came closer, they aimed their guns at those on the boat and ordered them to get out. Fearing for their lives, at least thirty people jumped into the water, which made the rescue much more dangerous. They later towed back the fiberglass boat with them.

Our crew recovered everyone from the water and searched again to make sure no one was missing.

Good news: our Aurora crew rescued 15 people over the weekend. We could bring all of the survivors to Lampedusa. We're refueling now and will be back at sea soon!

After 3 extra days at sea, we disembarked 150 survivors in Civitavecchia. 1 person required medical evacuation. Italy sent us 900 km from the rescue site to hinder further rescue efforts. We won't stop until safe migration routes exist. We wish our guests the best for their future.

227 PEOPLE RESCUED IN 48 HOURS by our crews on Sea-Watch 5 & Aurora 2! While unidentified vessels harassed our crews, one claiming to be the Libyan Navy even threatened them with prosecution. Italy's response? Assigning Sea-Watch 5 a port 3 days away. Stop obstructing rescue! Press release ⬇️

sea-watch.org/en/sea-watch...

sea-watch.orgSea-Watch rescues 227 people in the Mediterranean within 48 hours • Sea-Watch e.V.The crews of the Sea-Watch vessels Sea-Watch 5 and Aurora 2 rescued 227 people from five boats in distress in international waters in the central Mediterranean within 48 hours. The rescues took place ...

Our Sea-Watch 5 completed a third rescue early this morning! After being threatened by an actor identifying as the “Libyan Navy”, we were able to rescue another 72 people close to an oil platform. We now have 151 people on board! 📸 Adrian Pourviseh

Italy has assigned us the distant port of Civitavecchia, which is 900km away – around THREE DAYS of sailing away! Italian authorities are deliberately using distance as a weapon to prevent people from being rescued. We demand a closer port!

🚨 Yesterday evening, an unknown militia circled the Sea-Watch 5, forcing everyone onboard inside. They pulled back. Later, the crew responded to an @alarmphone.bsky.social alert & rescued 51 ppl. from a sinking boat, including a pregnant woman. Many have severe burns. Save lives. Not borders.

🔴 Our vessel Sea-Watch 5 has just rescued 28 people in distress, more than half of them minors, from a rubber boat spotted from the air by @sosmediterranee.org We are relieved to know they are safe from the horrors of Libyan detention.

Our Aurora safely disembarked 17 survivors in Catania last night. Italian authorities sent us to Sicily instead of Lampedusa, costing us precious rescue hours. But if they think this will keep us tied to the dock, they should think again. Solidarity and resilience keep us going!

We met Francesca Albanese in Lampedusa during the shipwreck commemorations on October 3, 2013. Together, we drew connections between the genocide in Palestine and the events unfolding in the Mediterranean.

She later came aboard our ship Aurora. Together, we reflected on how solidarity at sea is criminalized and how those who resist oppression face repression.

This meeting reminded us to bring our struggles together and resist side by side.

These surveillance and control tools are used to stop, at any cost, people fleeing from the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

Francesca Albanese supported our demand to access the hotspot where authorities detained the survivors rescued by Sea-Watch after last week's shipwreck.

We talked about how Israeli-made surveillance technology, like the drones used by Frontex, is part of the border system targeting people crossing the Mediterranean. These same tools are developed and tested against Palestinians.

Karim took Frontex to the EU’s highest court to fight its cooperation with Libyan militias and joint pullbacks. Now, while hiding in Libya and awaiting the verdict, he needs our help to survive: https://www.refugeesinlibya.org/help-karim-survive-to-fight-frontex

Italy forces us to sail for 14,5 more hours?! This morning, our Aurora crew rescued 17 people who reported being at sea for more than 20 hours. They are exhausted, seasick and dehydrated - they need a port of safety now!

Lampedusa is only 3,5 hours away, but Italian authorities assigned to us the Port of Catania - about 14,5 hours away, and there are 1,5 meter high waves! This is cruel. We demand a closer port!

Doesn't matter how hard they try to get rid of us - we have international law on our side! ⚖️ The Sea-Watch 5 is back in the Mediterranean and ready to support people on the move. We wish our crew fair winds. 📸 Maria Giorgi

12 hours. That's how long the Italian authorities knew about this boat before our crew reached the survivors. 12 hours in which people died. 6 people, including children, are still missing. What happened in that time? 👇

Sea-Watch (international)@en.sea-watch.org

🔴 At least 2 people are dead, including a child. 28 survived because our Aurora crew rescued them from a sinking dinghy and the Hasdrubal gas platform in the morning of 29.09. Our anger and grief are almost impossible to put into words. People have died again. The EU is guilty.

Two mothers lost children, and another woman lost her sister. We assume Frontex, the EU's border agency, orbited over them with its Eagle6 aircraft. If so, they decided not to intervene. Did authorities leave them to die because they couldn't be forced back to Libya or Tunisia?

We will find out. We filed an access-to-documents request with Frontex to learn what they saw and who they informed. Europe owes answers and a state-run search-and-rescue program!

All 28 survivors finally reached Lampedusa & disembarked safely. The 2 dead bodies were transferred to the Italian authorities. Our thoughts are with the survivors, the deceased & their loved ones. We will keep fighting for safe passages!

Sea-Watch (international)@en.sea-watch.org

At least 6 people, including 3 children, are reportedly missing. Lampedusa has finally been assigned to us as a place of safety. Our Aurora crew is on its way there with the 28 survivors of the horrific shipwreck and 2 dead bodies. 👉 tinyurl.com/arjc9jak

Sea-Watch (international)@en.sea-watch.org

sea-watch.orgAt least 2 Dead and 28 Survivors: Sea-Watch rescue in the early morning • Sea-Watch e.V.In the early morning hours of September 29, the crew of the rescue ship Aurora, operated by the civilian rescue organization Sea-Watch, rescued 28 people from a deflated rubber dinghy and from the Has...

Press release: sea-watch.org/en/2-dead-an...

Yesterday our ship Aurora and our Seabird plane reached a rubber boat with 13 people on board, signaled by @alarmphone.bsky.social south of Lampedusa. The Italian coastguard intervened and brought all the people safely to land.

We do not follow the EU's values compass. Because that would mean ignoring international law. Over the past two days, three NGO ships rescued 102 people at sea. Here's what our aircrew witnessed. 🧵

21 Sept: another Mayday Relay from an unknown station. We flew out and found 24 people fighting for their lives at sea. Sea-Eye 5 answered the call EU authorities didn't, and rescued everyone on board.

102 people alive today because NGOs did what EU states are legally bound to do and refuse to. We don't know the fate of everyone else we spotted. Civil society is filling a gap states created and abandon daily. Survivors deserve a future, not indifference.

But the NATO warship didn’t launch a rescue operation. Search and rescue is a legal obligation under international law, not an act of charity states can opt out of when inconvenient.

A Libyan militia boat closed in - these 31 people could have been dragged back to Libya. MSF's Oyvon reached them in time. That same day we spotted a black rubber boat, 47 people aboard: NGO ship Solidaire rescued them all, just in time.

20 Sept: our Seabird 2 aircrew spotted 31 people on an unseaworthy boat. @alarmphone.bsky.social had already alerted about the case; a Mayday Relay had gone out. A NATO warship was close by.