Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law

Gillian Triggs: Saving lives at sea

"you have to understand, that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land"

Published on the 09 March 2023
Abstract background. Waves of water of the river and the sea meet each other during high tide and low tide. Whirlpools of the maelstrom of Saltstraumen, Nordland, Norway

The words of this poem by Warsan Shire, a Somali-British writer say it powerfully and evocatively. Fear, desperation, and persecution push people to take great risks and embark on perilous sea journeys. Unless conflicts are resolved and safer legal routes provided, such risky movements of refugees and migrants at sea will continue.

Too often these movements lead to many going missing and to tragic loss of lives. In 2022, more than 159,000 persons attempted to crossthe Mediterranean Sea and more than 1,950 people died or went missing.  In Asia, more than 3,500 Rohingya refugees attempted deadly sea journeys from Bangladesh and Myanmar, leaving more than 340 of them dead or missing. Along the sea routes in the Caribbean at least 320 people were accounted as dead or missing in 2022. But figures do not tell the full picture. These figures are incomplete as many missing or dead also go unreported and they cannot convey the pain and anguish of family members desperately waiting for news of their loved ones.

These movements do not affect only the Andaman Sea and Pacific Ocean in Asia-Pacific, the Mediterranean or the Caribbean Sea but many other waterways in other parts of the world, from the Atlantic, the Channel and North Sea coasts of Europe and North Africa, the Gulf of Aden and coastlines of the African continent, or other waterways in the Americas. This is a global issue which requires better responses and cooperation among States and other actors.

These losses of lives are avoidable, and the primacy of human life needs to guide all actions and remain at the forefront of decision-making. This should always be the paramount priority. Rescue of persons and vessels in distress at sea is not only a humanitarian and moral imperative but also a well-recognised obligation under international law of the sea.
Author

Gillian Triggs

Commentary

General

Date

9 March 2023

There are many practical options to protect lives and ensure the protection of the rights of those moving by sea while also enabling sovereign governments to meet their national priorities.

  1. Search and Rescue services at sea need to be strengthened and potential gaps to be filled. Predictable and more comprehensive response from States when vessels are in distress is critical. Too often slow, limited or the absence of response leads to tragic outcomes for those at sea. Vessels are left adrift for weeks seriously endangering the health and lives of those onboard. The role of others able to provide rescue including NGO and commercial vessels should be supported rather than impeded. 
  2. Providing places for prompt and timely disembarkation in places of safety is key and an obligation under maritime law. Increased collaboration among States and support to states where refugees are disembarked is required. Such support includes improving reception conditions, facilitating access to asylum procedures and identifying long-terms solutions in a collective effort of responsibility-sharing.
  3. Pushbacks at sea without proper consideration of international protection needs seriously breach the non-refoulement principle and expose refugees and migrants to dangers to their life or safety.  
  4. Unless the situations in countries of origin and transit improve for people on the move, and barriers in accessing family reunification or other safe solutions are removed, such movements of refugees and migrants at sea will continue. Pathways for safe solutions in their various forms, such as resettlement quotas, humanitarian corridors, and education or labour pathways, need to increase.
  5. Efforts to prevent human smuggling, trafficking and forced labour also need to be redoubled, while maintaining a strong focus on victim protection.
  6. Harnessing the potential of new maritime technologies which include fundamental safeguards to increase the protection of persons at sea is promising.
  7. There is a need for more international cooperation, greater coordination, solidarity and responsibility-sharing, in view of the increased movements of refugees and migrants. This is also called for by the Global Compact on Refugees and the Global Compact on Migration. The second Global Refugee Forum in December later this year will be a key moment to reflect on the progress accomplished and remaining challenges. A more even distribution of humanitarian responsibility among countries would also help ensure more predictable, equitable, and sustainable protection responses and solutions.

Gillian Triggs is the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.