Protection activities on board the Ocean Viking respond to a wide range of needs. Based on a survivor-centred approach, these activities aim to promote safety, dignity and humanity.

For many people, travelling by sea in unsafe and unstable boats is a last resort to escape physical and psychological violence and serious violations of their human rights, both in their countries of origin and in countries of transit. On board the Ocean Viking, a search and rescue (SAR) vessel operated by SOS MEDITERRANEE and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in the Central Mediterranean Sea, protection activities play a leading role in ensuring both that people’s immediate needs are addressed and that they receive the support and information they require.[1]

The Ocean Viking operation functions as a Humanitarian Service Point (HSP) at sea, forming a crucial part of the IFRC’s Global Route-Based Migration Programme. This programme spans multiple countries along key migratory routes, where National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (National Societies) operate safe and neutral HSPs to provide essential humanitarian support to people on the move.

On board the Ocean Viking, the protection team – comprising a protection team leader, a protection delegate and a cultural facilitator – is deployed by National Societies from a pool of experienced migration and protection professionals. This close collaboration not only strengthens the IFRC’s global response capacity but also reinforces its unified approach to migration and protection.

Before heading to the area of operations, the team undergoes training on various protection issues in preparation for their work with survivors, and on specific scenarios that have occurred in the past to help them to avoid any dangerous or compromising situations affecting staff and/or survivors that might arise.

The moment of arrival

Immediately after a rescue is performed, the medical and protection teams identify anyone with serious medical conditions, who are prioritised until they are stabilised. At a later stage, non-urgent medical cases will be treated individually and confidentially.

A registration process starts shortly after survivors arrive on board. This activity is especially important because it allows the protection team to understand the group of survivors and any potential needs they might have. Survivors are asked about their country of origin, age and gender, and any family relations on board. Information on visible disabilities and pregnancy is also collected to enable proper follow-up. Survivors are given a bracelet with a number linked to the information provided during registration, which helps the protection team to maintain confidentiality and safeguard personal information. Additional colour-coded bracelets indicate various levels of vulnerability or any medical conditions.

A significant moment is the Welcome Speech, which conveys important information about life on the Ocean Viking, including rules about safety on the ship, and introduces the teams on board and their roles. This is an opportunity for the protection team to get to know survivors in a more relaxed atmosphere, and is the first chance for survivors to actively engage and help the team to share information with survivors speaking diverse languages and dialects. Engaging survivors in life on board is a crucial part of the survivor-centred approach, promoting dignity and a sense of empowerment and meaningful participation.

The protection team shares the name of the port in Italy assigned by authorities for disembarkation as soon as it is available. This can happen either immediately after the rescue or up to a few hours later, in contrast to past ‘stand-offs’, where ports were often not assigned for long periods. This communication brings reassurance to survivors, as many fear being returned to unsafe places.

Enhancing dignity

Following the registration process, survivors receive a blanket and a welcome kit comprising a new set of clean clothes and underwear, a towel, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a bottle of fresh water and some high-calorie, high-protein food. Survivors are often suffering from severe dehydration and hunger, not having had access to food and drinkable water for several days. Due to rough conditions at sea and the precarious state of the boats in which people travel, oil spills are common, and their clothes are usually wet with gasoline and salt water, a combination that can cause severe burning. In addition, the strong fuel smell can lead to headaches, nausea, dizziness and irritation of airways. Removing all wet clothes and washing thoroughly is therefore extremely important from a health perspective, but providing new clothes, hygiene items and access to washing facilities also helps promote the dignity of survivors.

Information on the asylum procedure

What awaits survivors after disembarkation in Italy is difficult to predict, and this uncertainty is likely to have a strong impact on their psychological well-being. Indeed, one of the most frequently asked questions is, “What will happen to me when I reach Italy?” Providing information about asylum procedures in Europe and Italy, the rights and duties of asylum seekers and some insights on reception systems is important as it empowers survivors with tools that will allow them to make informed decisions once they have disembarked. Sessions on international protection – organised with a focus on survivors’ particular situations and in their own languages – are a good opportunity to discuss the often complex legal migration system. They also help to reduce the stress and anxiety linked to the uncertainty of what will happen next and allow the team to identify any specific needs.

Awareness about sexual violence, torture and human trafficking

Sexual violence, torture and human trafficking are widespread practices in detention centres where people may have been held during transit. Disclosures from survivors on the Ocean Viking and many reports (such as by OHCHR  and Amnesty International) have raised concerns about these brutal forms of coercion and punishment. Talking about such experiences is often very difficult for survivors, who suffer shame, lack of trust and deep trauma. The protection team organises sessions on sexual violence and torture with the goal of ensuring survivors are informed about the physical and psychological consequences these types of abuses can have on them. These sessions complement other work by the protection and medical teams in providing psychosocial support and care for physical injuries. Emphasis is placed on creating a supportive environment in which survivors can make decisions about the steps ahead in their recovery journey. The protection team also works to inform survivors about specialised services on land, which can include case management carried out by organisations working with survivors of sexual violence, torture, and victims of human trafficking, as well as other mental health and psychosocial support services.

Connecting families

After many days at sea before rescue, marked by constant uncertainty, the survivors’ ability to communicate with their families is critical for their mental wellbeing and that of their relatives. The Salamat service, provided in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is an opportunity for survivors to inform their loved ones that they are alive, safe and heading to a safe port in Italy. The team confidentially collects contact information which is sent through a secure system to ICRC colleagues who, thanks to the support of National Societies in the relevant countries, deliver a ‘safe and well’ message to families. The Salamat service is a two-way communication channel and therefore feedback from the phone calls is transmitted back to survivors. The relief shown by people when they receive positive feedback on the delivery of their message is a truly emotional moment, showing how much the separation of families impacts the lives of people on the move. Similarly, families who receive the call feel great relief. Moreover, through the Restoring Family Links service, survivors can submit reports about family members they have left behind, or those who should already have reached safety in Italy with whom they have lost contact.

Promoting continuity of care

While conducting protection activities and during any other interactions with survivors (such as one-to-one conversations, medical visits or recreational activities), the protection team and other members of the crew look out for possible indicators of vulnerability. In addition to whatever a person decides to share with the team, there are signs – certain behaviours, reactions or expressions shown by survivors – that can alert the crew that more support may be needed. Disclosure should always come from the survivor, but observation is a crucial part of the work of the protection team. However, it is essential to make survivors aware both of the limitations of services on board and of services available on shore.

When dealing with vulnerabilities, it is crucial to uphold the highest standards of confidentiality and obtain the consent of survivors to all decisions made. Safeguarding survivors’ integrity and fostering their engagement in each step of the process are essential to avoid doing further harm and as a first step for survivors to recover from the trauma they have suffered.

Before disembarkation, the team provides survivors who have disclosed a specific vulnerability and have consented to be referred once on shore with an ‘information management’ form. The form has no legal value; it is a personal document that outlines the vulnerability and any other related needs that might require further attention. The form can be used as a first disclosure to a humanitarian actor to avoid having to tell their story again from the beginning; it is at the discretion of the survivor to decide if they want to use it or not. To ensure continuity of care beyond disembarkation, referrals to shore-based service providers, authorities and other relevant international humanitarian organisations  are a core part of the operation and are essential to safeguard survivors’ dignity and well-being

Mental health and psychosocial needs

Survivors face many challenges on their journeys, including family separation, loss of livelihoods, abuse, institutional violence, and discrimination. They may have a lack of trust in authorities and other actors. All these hardships leave them with complex mental health situations that often require psychosocial support and specialised services.

Protection staff on board focus on providing psychological first aid and improving survivors’ psychosocial well-being to help them cope with stress and to prevent more severe mental health conditions from developing. The aim is to strengthen and reinforce resilience through tools that survivors can use in their day-to-day interactions once they disembark. Through recreational and community-engagement activities, the protection team focuses on activating and maintaining social networks, peer-to-peer support, strengthening life skills and supporting well-being through good physical health. These activities are usually conducted in groups to promote a sense of belonging and community. Psychosocial well-being activities also help build trust among survivors and with the protection team.

Challenges and opportunities

When dealing with protection on board a search and rescue vessel, it is necessary to carry out continuous assessments and be ready to adapt to situations that might change quickly. This includes unforeseen weather conditions and a lack of control over the behaviour of other actors at sea which might require a response.

In addition, the team never knows what the physical and mental state of survivors will be, and this unpredictability represents a great challenge to the crew’s ability to address their immediate needs effectively. Resources on board are also quite limited. Furthermore, the amount of time spent with survivors can be short, which makes it more difficult to build the level of trust needed for survivors to feel comfortable enough to share their personal experiences with the team.

Any unusual or unexpected situations the team faces on board become a source of learning to improve services and response mechanisms. In this way, unpredictability is transformed into a useful tool for learning and improving operating protocols.

Ongoing SAR activities in the Central Mediterranean and providing humane and dignified treatment to survivors are vital and, we believe, a moral obligation. We must continue capturing lessons and adapting our approaches to make our actions more effective in protecting lives and responding to humanitarian needs at sea.

 

Matilde Moro
Humanitarian Service Point at Sea Operations Support Officer, IFRC European Regional Office, Budapest
matilde.moro@ifrc.org

Jordi Cortes Espasa
Protection, Gender and Inclusion Senior Officer, and former Protection Team Leader on board the Ocean Viking, IFRC European Regional Office, Budapest
jordi.cortes@ifrc.org

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

 

[1] See ICRC/IFRC (2024) Resolution. Protection in the Movement: Improving our collective impact in protecting people, p.1

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