Rescuing Migrants in the Central Mediterranean: The Emergence of a New Civil Humanitarianism at the Maritime Border

Abstract

The Central Mediterranean is the most deadly body of water in the Mediterranean Sea with at least 15,062 fatalities recorded by International Organization of Migration between 2014 and 2018. This article aims at highlighting the rise of a variety of new civil society actors engaged in the rescue of people undertaking dangerous journeys across the sea in the attempt of reaching the southern European shores. The peculiarity of the humanitarian space at sea and its political relevance are pointed out to illustrate the unfolding of the maritime border management on the Central Mediterranean route and its relation with the activity of the civil society rescue vessels. The theoretical aspiration of the article is to question the role of a proactive civil humanitarianism at sea, discussing the emergence of different political and social meanings around humanitarianism at the EU’s southern maritime border. In recent years, the increasing presence of new citizens-based organizations at sea challenges the nexus between humanitarian and emergency approaches adopted to implement security-oriented policies. This essay draws on the findings of a broader comparative work on a variety of civil society actors engaged in the search and rescue operations on the maritime route between Libya and Europe, focusing in particular on Italy as country of first arrival. The fieldwork covers a period of time going between 2016 and 2018. The research methodology is built on a multisited ethnography, the conduct of semidirective and informal interviews with both state and nonstate actors, and the analysis of various reports unraveling the social and political tensions around rescue at sea on the Central Mediterranean route.

How many refugees and migrants died trying to reach Europe? Joint population size and total estimation

“…The increase in number of events and deaths after 2012 has likely widened this gap. Indeed, in Esperti (2019) an estimate of 15,062 is reported for the period 2014-2018, while our data record 17,363, and our estimate is 18,320. The main issues with official estimates in our opinion are that they (i) clearly underestimate the number of casualties, (ii) are often not up to date, (iii) are often not accompanied by a confidence interval.…”

Maritime borders: A reconsideration of state power and territorialities over the ocean

“…Borders and migration have been coupled with each other to become the new keywords (Casas-Cortes et al, 2015; Mountz, 2010, 2011; Tazzioli, 2018; Esperti, 2020; Dijstelbloem and van der Veer, 2019; Casaglia, 2020) in addressing issues of immigration restrictions, such as refugees and humanitarian borders (Pallister-Wilkins, 2015, 2020). Migration, especially refugee movements, has imposed new challenges to states’ border policies and territorial control.…”

New scales of migration governance in the Mediterranean: Regional cities in the spotlight

“…Such a network seeks to increase the visibility of welcoming municipalities at the EU level, encouraging other cities to act and build stronger alliances with CSOs. In fact, the rise of a variety of new CSOs engaged in the rescue of people undertaking dangerous journeys across the sea in the attempt to reach southern European shores is an important pattern of region-making process in the Mediterranean (Cuttitta, 2018; Esperti, 2020).…”