A motion by the faction makes financial support conditional on the organization violating the European Convention on Human Rights.
The motion on the agenda of the Konstanz District Council on 09.12.2024 calls on the civilian sea rescue organization to return people rescued from distress at sea “back to their place of origin/departure, the African coast or, where applicable, the Turkish coast.” Otherwise, the district’s financial support should be terminated. If Sea-Eye were to agree to the proposed illegal returns, the CDU faction would even be willing to discuss increasing funding. The document was signed by Bernd Häusler, faction leader and Mayor of the city of Singen.
The fact that such a course of action would violate international law is not mentioned in the motion. Gorden Isler, chairman of Sea-Eye e.V., comments: “Reading the document makes it clear that the authors have familiarized themselves with neither the applicable legislation nor the current situation in the Mediterranean. We will of course continue to comply with the law and firmly reject support from the Konstanz district under these conditions that are contrary to human rights.”
The European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Refugee Convention fundamentally prohibit the return of people to states where human rights violations are a threat. As recently as February of this year, Italy’s highest court of appeal classified the handover of people to the so-called Libyan coast guard as a criminal offense, since Libya is not a safe place due to serious human rights violations such as torture, rape, and murder. In addition, the 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue stipulates that people in distress at sea must not only be rescued and given initial medical care, but also brought to a place of safety.
The CDU district council faction justifies its motion on the grounds that the presence of civilian sea rescue vessels “entrenches incentives for irregular migration and life-threatening migration routes.” This argument has already been refuted by several scientific studies — for example from the University of Potsdam or the European University Institute and the Italian Institute of International Policy Studies: the researchers found no link between the presence of civilian rescue vessels and the number of people who attempted the dangerous crossing. Rather, analyses suggest that migratory movements across the central Mediterranean are influenced by root causes of flight such as conflicts, persecution, ecological conditions, and climate change.
