A joint operation on the Ocean Viking seeks to save lives and protect the rights of migrants and refugees. But the regulatory challenges it faces highlight the need for a more conducive environment for humanitarian action.

On the shore of death, your journey ended.
Your little heart, still unripe, could not endure.
It was filled with love, overflowing until the very last breath.
You left, my beautiful one, my little one.
Your gentle voice has vanished forever,
Leaving behind a father, a mother, and a sister – Lost, wandering between sea and sky.
How could your kind heart leave your dear ones suddenly?
You bore the hardship of travel, the cruelty of the waves – All for what?
For a dignified life.
Yes, you have found it now, Rahaf. You are in eternal bliss.
May your soul rest in peace, my love.

A father’s tribute to his 7-year-old daughter, who died during an emergency medical evacuation from the Ocean Viking in the Central Mediterranean, 28th January 2025.

In January 2025, a family of four was among a group of 92 people who were rescued from a boat in distress in the Central Mediterranean Sea, near Malta. They were brought on board the search and rescue ship, the Ocean Viking. But before reaching the allocated disembarkation point, the seven-year-old daughter, who had an underlying heart condition, went into cardiac arrest. After failed attempts to revive her on board, the rescue team called for her to be airlifted to a hospital in Malta. Tragically, she did not survive the journey. In her father’s tribute to her, he asked, “You bore the hardship of travel, the cruelty of the waves – All for what?”

Sadly, she was not the first child to lose their life in avoidable circumstances at sea. Nor will she be the last.

Alarmingly high numbers of people are dying and going missing on what the International Organization for Migration (IOM) calls “the deadliest known migration route in the world”, the Central Mediterranean crossing between North Africa and Italy. Since the establishment of IOM’s Missing Migrants Project in 2014, more than 31,700 deaths and disappearances have been recorded in the Mediterranean, with approximately 24,600 of these being in the Central Mediterranean Sea (and 2,475 in 2024 alone).[1] In reality, it is likely there are more. These figures include children, many of whom are unaccompanied.[2]

There are international legal obligations on coastal States to provide search and rescue (SAR) services and on ships’ flag States to render assistance to persons in distress at sea (regardless of the nationality or status of such persons or the circumstances in which they are found) and to disembark survivors in a place of safety.[3] However, people continue to die and there is no coordinated SAR mechanism in place to prevent deaths and save lives across the Mediterranean Basin. This would suggest that the current legal and operational frameworks are failing to provide adequate support to those in need and to prevent loss of lives in the Mediterranean.

In an attempt to help fill the gap in humanitarian response to assist and rescue persons in distress at sea, in 2021 the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) joined the European maritime-humanitarian organisation SOS MEDITERRANEE on board their vessel, the Ocean Viking. This is an operational partnership that has served as both a civil search and rescue operation (SOS MEDITERRANEE oversees the SAR component) and a Humanitarian Service Point at sea, with IFRC offering relief, protection, and health services to people rescued in the Central Mediterranean. Nevertheless, current SAR efforts and support to survivors are not enough on their own. People will continue to die and go missing if efforts are not made to address the structural conditions that contribute to their vulnerability (and, ultimately, their decision to move).

Many states’ current focus on securitisation and externalisation in the approach to migration is making this work increasingly challenging. The emphasis on border security, deterrence and cooperation with third countries to intercept and return migrants has seemingly overshadowed humanitarian considerations and the protection of human rights. This approach has also included the criminalisation of humanitarian assistance to migrants in an irregular situation, making it difficult for humanitarian organisations to continue their life-saving work.

A complex regulatory environment

Along the Central Mediterranean migration route, the lack of protection for people on the move poses serious threats to their lives – the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has spoken of a “lethal disregard for desperate people”.[4] An increasingly complex regulatory environment in the EU, along with bilateral agreements with countries of transit and origin, are exacerbating the risks and vulnerabilities faced by people on the move, particularly those taking ‘irregular’ routes.

Through the operation on the Ocean Viking, the IFRC and SOS MEDITERRANEE have experienced, first hand, the impacts of current policies on SAR and disembarkation activities, including the implications for civil SAR operations and the protection threats to migrants and refugees.

For instance, state-level restrictions on secondary rescues – including the sequence of requirements to secure authorisation to perform such rescues and the limited accessibility of the relevant maritime authorities at these times – have reduced the Ocean Viking’s capacity to save lives in the search and rescue zone.[5] The allocation of distant ports for disembarkation has also limited this capacity and inflated the operational budget of the Ocean Viking. In 2023, the ship travelled more than 21,000 additional kilometres to reach 13 distant ports, rather than disembarking in the closest places of safety. This is estimated to have cost an extra EUR 500,000 in fuel.

In addition, the Ocean Viking has been the target of confrontational coastguard practices on several occasions, which have posed risks to the safety of crew and survivors. These challenges have been compounded by complicated maritime safety specifications, as well as penalties for non-compliance, including fines, detainment of crews and impoundment of vessels.

In February 2024, the Ocean Viking received a detention order from Italian authorities following the disembarkation of 261 survivors in Brindisi. The legal team representing SOS MEDITERRANEE challenged the constitutionality of the regulatory framework used to determine this matter (the 2023 Piantedosi Decree, Decree Law No. 1/2023), arguing that it violated fundamental rights and principles of proportionality and reasonableness. The judge of the Court of Brindisi referred the case to Italy’s Constitutional Court, questioning the legitimacy of the decree itself. It is a legal challenge that underscores the tension between humanitarian imperatives and current regulatory frameworks.[6]

Meanwhile, externalisation of the EU’s migration management, exemplified by agreements with countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania, further complicates the situation. This was most recently illustrated by the implementation in October 2024 of the Italy-Albania Protocol.[7] The Protocol has been subject to significant, ongoing operational and legal challenges, focused on its implications for the human rights of refugees, people seeking asylum and migrants. Concerns have also been raised by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.

At the same time, the EU’s Facilitation Directive, which criminalises the act of assisting someone’s unauthorised entry, transit, and stay, has been used to prosecute individuals and organisations providing humanitarian aid to such migrants. To ensure that humanitarian actors – including the crew of the Ocean Viking – are able to perform their principled, life-saving work effectively, an explicit and binding humanitarian exemption will need to be included in the directive.

Towards a new EU framework for SAR

Despite the current situation, there is reason to be hopeful. The European Commission and Parliament have both recognised the need for greater search and rescue capacities and improved coordination among actors present at sea. As part of the Commission’s call for the establishment of a more structured, reliable, and sustainable SAR framework that aligns with EU and international standards,[8] Member States and Frontex (the European Border and Coast Guard Agency), have been urged to enhance proactive SAR operations by deploying sufficient vessels, equipment and personnel along key routes, ensuring an effective response to distress situations.[9] In addition, the European Parliament has called for the establishment of a comprehensive EU SAR mission, implemented by national authorities and Frontex, to ensure a coordinated approach to saving lives at sea.

These calls have been made alongside the adoption, in 2024, of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which aims to establish a common EU system to manage migration and asylum. The Pact offers a critical opportunity to improve the situation, however its effectiveness in saving lives and reducing humanitarian needs, or alternatively worsening the situation, will depend on how it is implemented.

As negotiations on implementation measures continue, the IFRC and other organisations working with migrants and refugees continue to highlight the humanitarian imperative of their operations, focusing on the provision of essential support to people on the move.

Final thoughts

The IFRC-SOS MEDITERRANEE operation on the Ocean Viking exemplifies the humanitarian imperative to save lives and protect the rights of migrants and refugees. However, the regulatory challenges faced by civil SAR operations in the Central Mediterranean highlight the need for a more conducive environment for principled humanitarian action. This would entail enhanced coordination and cooperation among EU Member States, NGOs, and international organisations – including clear communications protocols and standardised procedures – to facilitate fair and efficient SAR operations and disembarkation practices. In parallel, more safe and legal pathways for migrants could help to reduce the reliance on dangerous seas routes and further prevent the loss of lives at sea.

Rahaf’s father asked, “You bore the hardship of travel, the cruelty of the waves – All for what?” His answer was, “For a dignified life.” It is for the sake of people like Rahaf, and the many boys, girls, men and women facing the same fate in the Mediterranean, that we must together strive to improve the protection of people and the provision of assistance needed to save lives at sea.

 

Anna Bowen
Regional Humanitarian Diplomacy Coordinator, IFRC Regional Office for Europe
Anna.BOWEN@ifrc.org

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and not the author’s employer, its affiliates, or employees.

 

[1] IOM’s Missing Migrants Project tracks incidents involving migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, who have died or gone missing in the process of migration towards an international destination: bit.ly/iom-mediterranean

[2] Since the IFRC partnered with SOS MEDITERRANEE in September 2021 (and up to end-January 2025), approximately 2,054 children have been rescued by the Ocean Viking, 1,630 of whom were unaccompanied.

[3] Regulated generally in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982); regulated more specifically in two IMO treaties, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention, 1974) and the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR Convention, 1979).

[4] OHCHR (2021) “Lethal Disregard” Search and rescue and the protection of migrants in the central Mediterranean Sea.

[5] All rescues are made in consultation with the relevant country’s maritime authorities. Italian law requires the OV to immediately head to the ’place of safety’ nominated by their maritime authorities as soon as a rescue is made. That means that they cannot – unless expressly permitted/authorised – respond to any subsequent distress calls.

[6] Orav A (2024) ‘Responsibility for search and rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean’, European Parliamentary Research Service

[7]‘Protocol between the Government of the Republic of Italy and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania for the Strengthening of Cooperation in Migration Matters’, 2023

[8] European Commission (2020) ‘Recommendation 2020/1365 of 23 September 2020 on cooperation among Member States concerning operations carried out by vessels owned or operated by private entities for the purpose of search and rescue activities’

[9] European Parliament (2023) ‘The need for EU action on search and rescue in the Mediterranean’

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