The German navy has ordered two of its vessels to head to the Mediterranean to help in the rescue of migrants making the crossing from Libya to Europe.
The German navy underlined that its mission would not form part of the ongoing Frontex initiative and noted that its warships would only act to save lives in distress “according to international law”.
“The judicial basis for the rescue of refugees in distress through German units is the International Convention of the Law of the Sea of the United Nations,” the German navy stressed.
“People in need of rescue are taken on board and brought to the nearest harbour,” it added.
Currently, the Italian navy, with the help of the Armed Forces of Malta, is doing most of the work when it comes to the rescue of asylum seekers who find themselves in difficulty while crossing to the EU.
People in need of rescue are taken on board and brought to the nearest harbour
Although Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has stated there was no formal agreement between Italy and Malta over the hosting of rescued migrants on the high seas, the Italian government has so far opted to take all such survivors even when these were rescued in Malta’s search and rescue area or closer to Maltese shores.
The German deployment, announced just a day after the visit of President Joachim Gauck to the island, will boost the military presence in the Mediterranean. The two naval units are the Berlin and the Hessen, a task force supplier and a frigate currently in the Gulf of Aden.
The Frontex led-mission, Triton, should soon be in a position to deploy more assets in the region.
‘Fighting smugglers not part of mission’
Originally, Germany used to be one of the main contributors to Frontex-led missions in the Mediterranean hosted by Malta. However, they pulled out following differences on the interpretation of the UN law of the sea.
According to international rules, rescued migrants have to be taken to the nearest safe port. However, Malta insisted that migrants should be hosted by the country whose assets had plucked them to safety. This was not acceptable to the Germans and they withdrew their participation.
It seems the new German mission now has the intention to act independently and follow UN rules.
“Planning divisions of the navy have started with the preparations for the rescue of refugees making sure that German warships could enter foreign harbours with unplanned authorisation,” the German navy said.
“Combating people smugglers, who, in the past months, have sent hundreds of refugees in ramshackle boats across the Mediterranean, is not part of the mission of the German navy,” the official announcement said.