Rescue ship SEA-EYE 4 returns to action
Sea-Eye e.V., a Regensburg-based sea rescue organisation, has appealed to the German government, at the start of the latest Sea-Eye 4 mission, to place human rights and humanitarian obligations at the centre of all political considerations, even in politically polarised times.
The rescue ship SEA-EYE 4 left the port of Burriana on Monday the 7th of October, for a new mission in the central Mediterranean. The vessel has recently been undergoing scheduled maintenance in the Spanish port.
“At a time when the political debate is marked by increasingly harsh rhetoric and a rush to tighten asylum laws, our humanitarian commitment is all the more urgent. The government and opposition parties are losing themselves in a polarising race to the bottom, putting the fundamental rights of people seeking protection at risk. We must never forget that people’s lives and dignity are at stake. We urge European governments, and the German government in particular, to place human rights and the humanitarian obligations that flow from them at the centre of all policy considerations, rather than promoting isolation and exclusion,” states Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye e.V.
German Doctors e.V. is supporting the crew of the SEA-EYE 4 with medical staff. Chairman of German Doctors e.V.. Dr. Harald Kischlat adds:
“The situation at Europe’s external and internal borders is getting worse. Europe, and now its member states, are sealing themselves off more than ever. At the same time, the situation on the most dangerous refugee route across the Mediterranean is increasingly being overlooked, even though there have been far too many deaths in 2024. We will therefore continue our efforts to ensure the survival of all those rescued – including numerous families, elderly people, pregnant women and children – by German Doctors together with the medical staff of the SEA-EYE 4. We would like to thank all the doctors and crew members who have often had to go beyond their limits on the three rescue missions so far in 2024. We wish our on-board physician Dr. Daniela Klein and the crew all the best for the last mission of the SEA-EYE 4 this year.”
The SEA-EYE 4 is expected to reach the search and rescue zone by the end of the week.
