The GHALIB KURDI will be deployed before the end of this year

• Fifth anniversary of the death of Alan, Ghalib and Rehanna Kurdi
• New campaign ‘Ehrlich gesagt’ (‘Honestly speaking’)
• Regensburg becomes home port of GHALIB KURDI

At a press conference in Regensburg on Tuesday morning, civil sea rescue organization Sea-Eye announced its plans to purchase a new rescue vessel and to deploy it before the end of this year. The new ship will be named GHALIB KURDI in memory of Alan Kurdi’s older brother, who also drowned five years ago. The family of the deceased children strongly support Sea-Eye’s cause and intends to become even more involved with Sea-Eye in the future.

“We could not save our own family. Let’s save the others,” Tima Kurdi stated at the opening of the press conference.

Since November 2019, the Italian Coast Guard has been entangling Sea-Eye in technical disputes. Italian officials have criticized the ship for not having sufficient sewage and waste disposal capacities on board. Even the fact that the competent German authorities strongly refuted this did not help. In August 2020, Sea-Eye had to file an urgent procedure lawsuit with the administrative court in Palermo. Sea-Eye expects a ruling in the coming weeks.

“Already in November 2019 it became clear to us that Italy will increasingly try to argue in this direction. Anticipating this, a project team has been working since February to find a larger ship that meets all requirements. Regardless of whether these are justified or not. We want to save people from drowning. The only way to do this is to send our ships to sea. That is why we need the GHALIB KURDI,” Gorden Isler states, Chairman of Sea-Eye.

In July, the general assembly of the civil sea rescue organization already gave the green light at a meeting in Erfurt and instructed the board to go ahead with the plans. In the meantime, Sea-Eye has selected a ship and agreed on a purchase price with a German shipowner. Sea-Eye’s donors and supporters have already ensured the financing of the purchase. Among other donors, the Catholic Church is also a big supporter of the project. Currently, Sea-Eye is drawing up the shipyard plan for equipping the ship and is preparing the contracts for the transfer of ownership. The ship will be presented to the public after the transfer of ownership. At the same time, Sea-Eye will introduce new partner organizations that will accompany Sea-Eye’s missions in the future.

“The increasing difficulties are likely to become tough for individual organizations to cope with alone. We are therefore talking to various experienced organizations about sharing tasks and responsibilities,” continues Isler.

Fifth anniversary of the death of Alan, Ghalib and Rehanna Kurdi

September 2nd 2020 marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi. The picture of the drowned two-year-old boy gained sad notoriety. Meanwhile, hardly any attention was paid to the fact that the lifeless body of the two years older brother Ghalib was found a few hundred metres away next to the also drowned mother Rehanna. In an interview the father Abdullah Kurdi later quoted the last words of his son Ghalib: “Don’t be afraid father.”

Abdullah’s sister Tima Kurdi wrote down the family’ history. Her book “The Boy on the Beach” will be published in German bookstores in October. Since the family tragedy, she uses her voice to stand up for the rights of refugees and people seeking protection. Over the past five years, the EU member states have continued to focus on closing borders and deterrence. In recent years, some 20,000 more people have drowned in the Mediterranean. Armed Libyan militias now serve as bouncers for the EU and living conditions in the refugee camps on the Greek islands can only be described as inhumane and cruel.

“In the last five years, many people in Germany have committed themselves to helping refugees. Europe must now work to end the war in my home country. Europe must return to a human rights-based course and create humanitarian corridors,” Tima Kurdi states.

New campaign ‘Ehrlich gesagt’ – ‘Honestly speaking’

In order to raise funds for the ALAN KURDI and GHALIB KURDI missions, Sea-Eye is launching the ‘Ehrlich gesagt’ (‘Honestly speaking’) campaign on September 3rd. The concept comes from the Hamburg agency Grabarz & Partner and was presented at the press conference by Alexander Baron.

“We are not merely doing our job, we are also committed to society. And since we don’t go on a mission ourselves, we at least try to do everything we can to ensure that Sea-Eye can do it,” Baron states.

The campaign aims to convey its message in an emotional yet straight-forward and concise way, without relying on the typical use of pictures of sea rescuers or rescued people. The campaign will be billboarded in Regensburg, Munich, Berlin, and Cologne.

Home port Regensburg

Regensburg will be the home port of the new rescue ship, the same city where Sea-Eye e.V. was founded in October 2015 by Michael Buschheuer and friends. In addition, Regensburg was the first city in Bavaria to declare itself a “Safe Harbor” within the framework of the Seebrücke movement and the Potsdam Declaration.

“Many people from the African continent still set off in the direction of Europe via the sea because they hope to escape armed conflicts, terror, hunger and poverty. Rescue organizations such as Sea-Eye e.V., based in Regensburg, perform an important humanitarian task. I am very pleased that the GHALIB KURDI is the organization’s fourth ship to conduct rescue missions, and I am proud to call Regensburg its home port,” explains Regensburg’s Mayor Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer, who also took part in the press conference.

In another symbolic gesture of support, the city agreed to the temporary renaming of two places. From September 3rd, the “Iron Bridge” will be named “Michael-Buschheuer-Bridge” for three months and the “Marc-Aurel-Ufer” will be renamed “Alan-and-Ghalib-Kurdi-Harbor”, after an idea of artist Dušan Zahoranský.

Maritime law expert speaks of illegal measures against Sea-Eye

• Detention of the ALAN KURDI ends
• Expert on maritime law cites Italy’s measures as unlawful
• Sea-Eye considers appeal
• 55,000 supporters demanded release
• Church alliance bears blockade costs
• ALAN KURDI may go to Spain

Since 5 May the Italian coast guard had detained the ALAN KURDI in the port of Palermo. Previously the ship had saved 150 lives in the international waters off Libya. After an eleven-day blockade and a subsequent two-week quarantine of the crew, the Italian coast guard claimed to have detected “serious safety deficiencies”.

As the German Ministry of Transport stated on 7 May already: “In the view of the German flag state administration, the irregularities detected by the Italian authorities do not concern serious safety deficiencies”.

The Italian argumentation aimed in particular at the allegedly inadequate sewage system, toilets and waste disposal facilities on the ship.

Expert on maritime law cites Italy’s measures as unlawful

Maritime law expert Valentin Schatz (Institute for the Law of the Sea and for Maritime Law, University of Hamburg) advised Sea-Eye together with other experts in the past weeks.

“The technical requirements imposed on the ALAN KURDI by the Italian Ministry of Transport do not correspond to the class of ship legally determined by the German authorities and disregard the exemptions for sea rescue in the relevant international conventions for the protection of the marine environment and the safety of maritime traffic. The unlawfulness of the Italian measures was challenged by the responsible office for ship safety of the German flag state authority against the Italian authorities, who were not impressed. The Federal Government should be aware that with such illegal detentions of German ships, Italy is also violating the rights of the Federal Republic of Germany as the flag state of ALAN KURDI, which are guaranteed under international law, and is damaging the reputation of the German flag,” states Schatz.

Sea-Eye will therefore promptly examine all possible legal remedies in order to provide clarity.

55,000 supporters demanded release

With the petition “Free the Ships” Sea-Eye demanded the release of the rescue ships ALAN KURDI and the Spanish ship AITA MARI, which was also detained in Palermo. More than 55,000 people joined this demand in a petition. Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo, personally appealed to the Italian Minister of Transport to ensure that the ships were not stopped.

Church alliance bears blockade costs

Overall, the blockade in the port of Palermo caused financial damage of around €70,000. Around € 20,000 are due for a special fee which is charged to “non-commercial ships” due to the corona crisis. The sea rescuers from Regensburg can bear the high costs thanks to financial support from the “United 4 Rescue” alliance initiated by the EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany).

ALAN KURDI may go to Spain

The ALAN KURDI is free again and is now heading for the Spanish coast. As Italy continues to maintain its legal position, Sea-Eye, in cooperation with the German authorities, will now determine the circumstances under which the vessel can sail on its next mission without being detained again by the Italian authorities.

“We are free, but not free from further trouble. We were threatened that we would surely be detained again,” states Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye.

At a meeting in Rome, on June 10, Sea-Eye was able to agree with the Italian coast guard that the ALAN KURDI may leave the port of Palermo if the flag state consents and the Spanish authorities agree to the arrival of the ALAN KURDI. The German and Spanish authorities eventually agreed.

“We are grateful to the Spanish and German authorities for helping us to free ourselves from this devastating stranglehold,” states Isler further.

The legal uncertainty caused by Italy is now thwarting the ALAN KURDI’s planned deployment in July. Another, even longer blockade could ruin the association from Regensburg.

“We will find a solution, as we have succeeded time and again, and are determined to save human lives again soon,” concludes Isler.

In order to be able to defend ourselves against the measures before an Italian administrative court and to prepare the next mission, we are dependent on your donation. Because Sea-Eye’s work is only possible through donations. Will you help us?

No rescue ship deployed in the Mediterranean at the moment

• Rescue ship ALAN KURDI detained in Palermo for the time being
• Grotesque arguments of Italian authorities
• German authorities see no reason for the detention

On Tuesday evening, our rescue ship ALAN KURDI was detained in the port of Palermo. Italian officials gave as reasons that the ship had defects that would affect safety on board. Before its last mission, however, the ship underwent a five-week shipyard time which ended in March. There, the ship had been given a complete overhaul in many areas.

Grotesque arguments of Italian authorities

“Detaining our ship is pure harassment to grind civil sea rescue efforts to a halt bit-by-bit. The ALAN KURDI has just left the shipyard and has been completely overhauled. This blockade’s only goal is to actively stop us from rescuing at sea. Instead of protecting human rights, those who do it are held up at every corner”, states spokesperson Julian Pahlke.

We have already contacted German authorities to work towards ending the blockade.

“The reasoning of Italian authorities that they are concerned about the safety of the crew and the rescued seems grotesque. If they had really been concerned about the safety of the rescued, then they should not have blockaded them for 12 days on board of the ALAN KURDI before”, states Gorden Isler, chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.

Similar to the ALAN KURDI a few weeks ago, the merchant ship MV MARINA of a shipping company from Hamburg is being blocked off Lampedusa, because it rescued 78 people. The shipping company refers to the people’s dire situation and has so far not received any support.

“The politically-motivated abuse of official authority by the Italian coast guard is preventing our planned mission in May. That is irresponsible”, states Isler further.

German authorities see no reason for the detention

Sea-Eye is in contact with German authorities, who are also trying to clarify the situation quickly. A reason to officially detain the ALAN KURDI was not confirmed by the German authorities to Sea-Eye on Wednesday.

The ALAN KURDI had rescued 150 people from distress at sea on 6 April and then had to wait 12 days for a political solution before the remaining 146 people were brought to safety. Before that, four people had to be evacuated for medical reasons. On Monday, after 16 more days of quarantine, the ship finally entered the port of Palermo, where it was detained today.

We look at the faces of Filimon, Hdru, Omar, Debesay, Huruy and Mogos. The faces of young men between the ages of 18 and 25. They had their whole future ahead of them. They wanted to study and get jobs, start families, live in peace and safety. But they are dead. Drowned, starved and parched, having fled death, torture, war and violence.

Their deaths were viewed as collateral damage, if not mercilessly included in the plan itself. The people in charge simply did not and do not care, that these young men died. This is an assumption, it is polemic, but the facts speak for it.

What we know:

At the beginning of April (the ALAN KURDI is on a rescue mission), 63 refugees in a rubber boat set out on the dangerous route across the Mediterranean (see also “Starved, parched and drowned in a European search and rescue zone“). After a long odyssey they reach the Maltese search and rescue zone. Malta is obligated to save the refugees. It is applicable law: maritime law and human rights. These established rights cannot be overridden due to the pandemic. European judges have determined this.

However, Malta hired a dubious businessman to send an inconspicuous fishing boat to bring the refugees back to Libya. This campaign killed twelve people, including the young men shown here with photos and names.

Where do the photos come from?

Avvenire.it first published the names and photos of the refugees. The portal is an official website of the Vatican news agency and is known for dealing directly with the topic of migration. The journalists have good contacts to Libya and thus also to the survivors of the push-back. As a result, the photos were probably leaked to them.

The research was also confirmed by the “Times of Malta”, where these photos were also published. Both sources are considered trustworthy and reputable. We rely on these two sources for the publication, there is no 100% certainty.

Why do we show the photos?

Because the dead have a face and a name. They aren’t just numbers and statistics.

“There is a tendency in society that has pushed the whole discussion about flight and people fleeing extremely to the right. The culture of conversation about it has been dehumanizing. That too is violent. And if we show these pictures – the pictures of real people, of personal fates, the stories behind them – then we bring this discourse back to a humane level. I believe that this dehumanized image needs to be corrected and therefore it is right to show the images,” said Gorden Isler, Sea-Eye’s chairman.

Isler draws parallels to the publication of Alan Kurdi’s picture. Even back then it was important to publish this picture because it changed public discourse.

The Bishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, believes that the publication of the pictures does not cross any moral boundaries.

“The victims of our politics and our indifference have names and faces like all of us,” said the bishop on Twitter.

A political scandal

Maltese government official Neville Gafá swore under oath that he had organized the push-back and another Easter campaign under the direction of the Prime Minister’s office.

“I confirm that I was involved in a mission during Easter night and the following days, in which a boat with 51 irregular migrants, including eight women and three minors, was brought to the port of Tripoli. There were five bodies on the same boat,” said Gafá. (Sources: Times of Malta, repubblika.org)

He testified that he had acted on the instructions of the Prime Minister’s office. The latter had asked him to coordinate directly with the Libyan Ministry of the Interior and the Libyan Coast Guard. In addition, there is suspicion that there have been several illegal push-backs. In the meantime, criminal charges have been filed and there is said to be an official investigation.

(by Martin Geiger)