“Human rights are being defended”
Ten years ago, the Zivile Seenotrettung, ZSNR (Maritime Search and Rescue Service) was set up as a rection to the end of state rescue measures such as Italy’s Mare Nostrum. Since then, around 175,000 have been saved from drowning in the Mediterranean. In this interview with Anke Poppen, political scientist Dr. Mareike Gebhardt talks in detail about the research project entitled “Search and Rescue Missions and the Dissensus on Democracy” which she is working on in conjunction with colleagues from the Forum Internationale Wissenschaft at the University of Bonn. The project is being funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.
How important is the ZSNR in protecting refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean?
It’s key. It’s the only organised infrastructure which is devoted solely to saving lives, and it consists of a large number of NGOs from a variety of European countries. National, as well as supranational players such as the European Border and Coast Guard Agency “Frontex”, are focused on safeguarding borders. The Italian coastguard also has a significant involvement in rescue operations in the central Mediterranean. Other neighbouring countries such as Malta have not been reacting to distress calls for some years now. The so-called Libyan coastguard brings people back to Libya – so what happens there can hardly be termed “rescue”. The ZSNR started out by temporarily plugging gaps in rescue capacities. There’s no European search-and-rescue organisation in sight, though – which makes the ZSNR indispensable.
On what legal basis does the ZSNR operate?
It operates in accordance with international maritime law. When a ship is in distress, every captain is obliged to come to the rescue. This is clear from the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.
What about the ZSNR network – who is involved?
The sea crews include the ships with all the people who work on board such as captains and other nautical and medical specialists. The land crews look after the logistics, PR work, demonstrations and raising donations. The civilian network is very broad-based and includes parties, foundations, NGOs, churches, people in the creative field, and artists. In other words, it’s not a left-wing niche issue, as is occasionally claimed.
In your research project you turn your attention to democracy. To what extent is this a part of the ZSNR?
The ZSNR sees itself as defending democratic values such as equality, solidarity, freedom of movement and protection of minorities – and it is also understood in this way by those who support it. A nationalistic understanding of democracy, on the other hand, functions on the basis of exclusion: who is allowed to enter the country and benefit from this system of government, and who isn’t? But democracy stands for human rights, not for exclusion. The ZSNR opposes any violations of human rights such as illegal refusals to allow people in who have a right to asylum proceedings. In doing so, the ZSNR defends European values and doesn’t endanger them in any way.
How are human rights violations actually possible at Europe’s external borders? How is this justified?
The border regime is based on a legal framework created by societies. Setting up a border doesn’t happen without force, and that represents a fundamental conflict with democratic ideals. For ten years now, and as a reaction to the long summer of migration in 2015, among other things, European border policies have been tending more strongly towards undemocratic behaviours, with countries protecting themselves from what is supposedly alien. This is also influenced by racist and colonial thinking.
One argument frequently directed at the ZSNR is that it supports the business in human trafficking. Is that true at all?
That’s untenable, empirically speaking. The arguments used are designed to discredit maritime rescue operations and brand them as left-wing ideology. What we mustn’t forget either, is that there are not only “illegal traffickers” but also supporting structures. Also, most of the people seek refuge within their own countries or in neighbouring countries, and only a fraction come across the Mediterranean. In other words, the notion of “masses of refugees” is inaccurate.
The public perception of the ZSNR fluctuates between heroic and criminal. Which way does the pendulum swing nowadays?
Initially, it was in the direction of the heroic, but in the past few years we have observed the opposite tendency. This is fuelled by some governments. The Italian government, for example, issues decrees making rescue operations more difficult – for example by not allowing NGOs to head automatically for the nearest port. These decrees are not recognised in courts as they infringe international law. Nevertheless, such initiatives reach their objective of contributing to the perception of rescue operations as criminal acts.
Within seven years, the number of refugees has doubled worldwide, with the current record standing at 114 million. What does this mean for the ZSNR?
At the European level, there is no solution in sight. On the contrary: right-wing governments have no interest, and opposing positions are entrenched. This means that the ZSNR will become increasingly important. The broad, diverse network of support in civil society is a cause for hope. These voices may be quieter, but they are more nuanced. They protect democracy instead of undermining it.
This article is from the University newspaper wissen|leben No. 5, 16 July 2025.