Berlin – ESI at taz lab: Fortress Europe - The future of sea rescues
6 April 2019

Gerald Knaus, Katja Kipping, Lin Hierse (moderator), and Jana Ciernioch. Photo: ESI
ESI's Gerald Knaus was invited to speak at a panel on the future of sea rescues at this year's taz lab.
The other panelists were Katja Kipping, co-head of the Linke party and Jana Ciernioch, SOS Mediterranée. Gerald pointed to populist developments in European countries such as Italy and warned that the European consensus on humanitarian issues, including sea rescue, is about to break away. He argued for quick and humane asylum procedures to be initially implemented by a coalition of concerned European countries such as Germany, Greece and Spain. He called for realistic goals, more humanity, the application of international refugee law and legal pathways for migrants.
- taz, Josefine Strauß, "Festung Europa – Seenotrettung geht uns alle an" ("Fortress Europe – Sea rescue is a concern for all of us") (6 April 2019)
- The New York Times, John Dalhuisen, "How to Win the Fight Over Europe's 'Refugee Crisis'" (27 March 2019)
- ESI paper: "Amsterdam in the Mediterranean" – How a Dutch-style asylum system can help resolve the Mediterranean refugee crisis (26 January 2018)
- ESI proposals for the refugee crises in the Central Mediterranean and the Aegean: www.esiweb.org/refugees

Photo: ESI