03-10-2019 09:00
Hearing on Search and Rescue in the Mediterranean
On Thursday 3 October the LIBE Committee held a public hearing to take stock of the situation of Search and Rescue in the Mediterranean in view of latest developments and the legal framework.
The hearing took place against the backdrop of a tragic situation in the Mediterranean. 933 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2019. The event followed on Parliament's work on the issue and addressed different aspects of search and rescue activities in the Mediterranean as well as the relevant legal framework, with speakers representing NGOs, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the European Commission, Frontex and the Italian Guardia Costiera.
- Draft programme (PDF - 632 KB)
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European Parliament positions
- European Parliament resolution of 12 April 2016 on the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration
- European Parliament resolution of 18 May 2017 on making relocation happen
- European Parliament resolution of 18 April 2018 on progress on the UN Global Compacts for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and on Refugees
- European Parliament resolution of 5 July 2018 on guidelines for Member States to prevent humanitarian assistance from being criminalised
- European Parliament resolution of 16 January 2019 on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in 2017
- Oral questions to the Commission and Council on Search and Rescue in the Mediterranean (PDF - 109 KB)
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European Parliament studies
- European Parliament's Policy Department study, "Fit for purpose? The Facilitation Directive and the criminalisation of humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants", 2016
- European Parliament's Policy Department study, "Fit for purpose? The Facilitation Directive and the criminalisation of humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants: 2018 Update", 2018
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EU institutions and agencies
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Other international organisations
- Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights' Recommendations of 18 June 2019 on Search and Rescue, "Lives saved. Rights protected. Bridging the protection gap for refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean"
- Joint Statement: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and IOM Director General António Vitorino welcome consensus on need for action on Libya, Mediterranean;
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Legal background – main reference texts
- 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, United Nations
- 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
- 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
- 1974 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
- 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue
- 2000 Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime [“AntiSmuggling Protocol”]
- Council Directive 2002/90/EC of 28 November 2002 defining the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence
- Council Framework Decision of 28 November 2002 on the strengthening of the penal framework to prevent the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence
- 2019 New European Border Coast Guard (Frontex) regulation