Proactiva Open Arms

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Proactiva Open Arms
purpose Sea rescue
Chair: Òscar camps
Establishment date: 2015
Seat : Badalona
Website: proactivaopenarms.org

Proactiva Open Arms is an association in Spain that operates the sea ​​rescue of people in the Mediterranean.

Foundation and background

Founder Òscar Camps, 2017

Òscar Camps was the owner of the rescue company Pro-Activa Serveis Aquàtics when he began rescuing refugees off the island of Lesbos on his own account in the wake of the refugee crisis in 2015 . A short time later, a Human Rights Watch activist advised him to set up a non-governmental organization with a presence on a crowdfunding platform.

Ships and crew

The organization is geared towards the person from Òscar Camps, other helpers are only named by their first names according to the FENL Foundation in 2018. The phrase " (...) Oscar Camps and his team of volunteers " was quoted from the "Open Arms" website . "The organization operates or operated the ships:

  • Open Arms , a 37-meter ship that had 19 crew members as of March 2018.
  • Golfo Azzurro , a former trawler operated by the Dutch Boat Refugee Foundation until summer 2017.
  • Astral , a 30 meter British flag sailing yacht that was donated to the group in 2016 by an Italian entrepreneur.

Confrontation with authorities

2017

The organization signed the code of conduct for non-governmental organizations drawn up by the Italian government in August 2017. However, the activists do not consider the contract to be legally binding; in particular, according to a report from April 2018, the aid organization still does not want to hand over any people to the Libyan coast guard because the rescued are at risk of torture in Libya.

In August 2017, the open arms ship Golfo Azzurro was threatened by the Libyan coast guard in international waters.

In November 2017, the Libyan Coast Guard sold the open arms ship Golfo Azzurro . According to the crew, the Libyans threatened them in international waters and fired warning shots.

March 2018

The Open Arms in March 2018 in Pozzallo

However, the crew of the Open Arms refused to hand over the people who had already been admitted to the Libyans who had arrived. When the ship docked in Pozzallo in Sicily on March 19, 2018 , it was confiscated by the Italian authorities and an investigation started against several crew members. In response, a larger group of leading international law experts declared that Italy should end its policy of persecuting lifesavers who bring people from distress to a safe place. The ship was released on April 16, 2018 by court order that Proactiva had acted correctly because Libya is not considered a safe place for the repatriation of migrants. The investigative proceedings against the captain and the head of mission for the alleged formation of a criminal organization and aiding and abetting illegal immigration were discontinued by the examining magistrate in May 2019.

May 2018

The Astral took 105 people on May 7, 2018 and wanted to hand them over to the significantly larger Aquarius of the SOS Méditerranée , which was supposed to bring them to Italy. The Italian authorities refused to grant permission and referred to the law of the sea, according to which the United Kingdom, as the flag state, must first consent to the transfer. The activists described the actions of the authorities as harassment and referred to the weather and the hygienic conditions on the little Astral . After waiting two days for permission to enter the port, the rescued were allowed to be brought ashore by the Aquarius in Italy.

June 2018

Shortly after Italy had issued a port ban for rescue ships from private organizations, Proactiva Open Arms reported on June 30, 2018 via Twitter that 59 people had been rescued and that they were on their way to a "safe haven". Malta declared itself inconsistent and Italy announced that it would not allow the ship to enter its ports. According to a reporter on the ship, the captain told the migrants on board that they were being brought to Spain.

August 2019

In August 2019, the Italian Interior Minister Salvini refused for almost three weeks to allow the rescue ship with 83 migrants on board to call at Lampedusa, even though European governments had meanwhile agreed to accept the people. Proactiva founder Òscar Camps tweeted that the situation on board the ship was similar to that in Libyan camps. Several rescued jumped into the sea to reach the shore of Lampedusa about 100 m away. You were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard. The ship was later inspected by the Italian public prosecutor and the landing of the people was ordered. The ship was confiscated for investigation. The chain of command that prevented the rescue ship from docking in Lampedusa for weeks should be clarified because of suspected abuse of office and deprivation of liberty . The public prosecutor's office accuses Matteo Salvini of having detained the rescued migrants on the rescue ship beyond his powers. Salvini's immunity was lifted at the end of July 2020 to enable a trial in Palermo.

Awards

Movie

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Un equipo de socorristas españoles salvan vidas de refugiados a diario en las costas de la isla de Lesbos , Europa Press, October 2, 2015.
  2. ↑ Proactiva Open Arms: "Nos movió un niño, Aylan, a hacer todo esto" , interview with Oscar Camps, Unicef.
  3. ^ "Proactiva Open Arms" on FENL: Les ONG DANS LA CRISE DES MIGRANTS.PDF, 2018, pages 13, 14
  4. ↑ a b Lorenzo Tondo: 'My crew saved 218 migrants from drowning - so why are we the enemy?' , The Guardian, March 24, 2018.
  5. ↑ Denise Grech: NGOs say Malta should have 'shown solidarity' with Golfo Azzurro rescuers , maltatoday, 9 August 2017.
  6. ^ Ana Sánchez Juárez: Livio Lo Monaco, el fabricante de colchones que donó su yate para salvar vidas en el mar , El Confidencial, October 1, 2016.
  7. ^ Approval from SOS Mediterranee . ORF August 11, 2017, accessed May 22, 2017
  8. ↑ Anna Momigliano: An aid group faced trial for bringing rescued migrants to Italy. It just won a major victory , Washington Post, April 17, 2018.
  9. ^ Migrant rescue boat threatened by Libyan coastguard in international waters . Euronews August 16, 2017, accessed June 12, 2018
  10. ^ Libyan Patrol Boat Fires Warning Shots at Rescue Ship , The Maritime Executive, November 14, 2017.
  11. ^ Italy in Violation of International Law, Lawyers Say . Raul Wallenberg Institute, March 29, 2018, accessed January 2, 2019.
  12. ↑ Ivan Camilleri: Migrant rescue ship released by Sicilian authorities . Times of Malta, April 20, 2018, accessed May 23, 2018
  13. ^ Italy closes investigation against Spanish rescue crew . ABC News May 15, 2019, accessed July 31, 2020.
  14. ↑ Rescuers blame UK and Italian 'red tape' while waiting with migrants at sea as conditions worsen , The Japan Times, May 8, 2018.
  15. ↑ Rescued migrants allowed to land in Italy after two-day wait at sea . The Local, May 8, 2018, accessed August 30, 2019.
  16. ^ "Spain NGO ship saves 59 migrants, Italy refuses access" thelocal.it of June 30, 2018
  17. ↑ Migranti, Open Arms salva 59 migranti e accusa: "Quei 100 morti di ieri colpa della Guardia costiera italiana e libica" repubblica.it of June 30, 2018
  18. ↑ Migrants go ashore on Lampedusa . Time August 21, 2019, accessed August 23, 2019.
  19. ↑ Migrants have left "Open Arms" . Süddeutsche Zeitung August 21, 2019, accessed August 22, 2019.
  20. ↑ Die Welt, “Open Arms” lands in Lampedusa - Germany accepts migrants , August 22, 2019
  21. ↑ Senate lifts former Interior Minister Salvini's immunity . Time, July 31, 2020, accessed July 31, 2020.
  22. ↑ Communication from the European Parliament on the European Citizens' Prize (PDF) . Official Journal of the European Union C 239/01, 1 July 2016
  23. ^ La ONG Proactiva Open Arms, galardonada con el prestigioso Premio HERO , Mundo Deportivo, November 16, 2016, accessed May 29, 2018
  24. ↑ Premios UNICEF 2017: Ban Ki-Moon, Pulseras Candela, Proactiva Open Arms y Escuelab . UNICEF, accessed May 22, 2018
  25. ↑ Catalan NGO rescue boat with three migrants not allowed to disembark . CatalanNews, August 8, 2017, accessed May 23, 2018
  26. ↑ ALBA / Puffin Award Honors Proactiva Open Arms, which Has Saved Thousands of Refugees' Lives . The Volunteer March 6, 2017, accessed May 22, 2018.
  27. ^ Arturo Conde: This Spanish Lifeguard Founded a Group That Has Saved Thousands of Refugees . NBC News, March 24, 2017, accessed May 25, 2018.
  28. ↑ https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/ehrenmedaille-fuer-carola-rackete-16378759.html