“Saving lives is not a crime” GUE/NGL Hearing 11/09, Brussels - Main contents
| date | September 11, 2019 14:30 - 18:30 |
|---|---|
| city | Brussels, Belgium |
| organisation | Confederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) i |
“Saving lives is not a crime”
GUE/NGL Hearing
Wednesday 11th September 2019 , 14:30 - 18:30
European Parliament Brussels, Room ASP 1G2
Simultaneous interpretation will be provided in English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Swedish, Spanish
Live webstreaming available
Since 1993, UNITED for Intercultural Action has recorded the reported names, origins and causes of death for more than 34,000 refugees and migrants who have died whilst trying to get into Europe due to the restrictive policies of “Fortress Europe”.
In the Mediterranean sea alone, according to IOM, at least 911 people died in 2019. Since the end of Mare Nostrum, there has been no state proactive search and rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean. Because of the increasing number of death at sea following the closure of Mare Nostrum, NGOs have started search and rescue operations. Their life-saving activities ended up being criminalised by many governments and their ships being seized.
This hearing aims at giving a space to those actors that have saved lives where governments should have been the ones rendering assistance to people in distress.
Programme
13.45: Registration (handing in of badges to the people without access to the EP building)
Meeting point: in front of Altiero Spinelli building (next to Place Luxembourg)
14.30-14.40: Welcome introduction by Cornelia Ernst, MEP, Die Linke (Germany), GUE/NGL
14.40-16.30: Testimonies from SAR NGOs
Chair: Miguel Urban, MEP, Podemos (Spain) GUE/NGL
Oscar Camps, Open Arms
Georgia Linardi, Seawatch
Markus Stottut, Jugendrettet
Miguel Roldan, firefighter (tbc)
Mecthild Stier, Lifeline
Giuseppe Caccia and Lucia Gennari, Mediterranea
David Starke, SOS Méditerranée
16.40-18.00: Challenges and mobilisation
Chair: Malin Björk, MEP, Swedish Left Party, GUE/NGL
Violeta Moreno-Lax, Queen Mary University of London
Salvatore Tesoriero, lawyer, Italy
Kashef, Alarmphone
Alina Lyapina, Seebruecke
Conclusion
List of confirmed participants:
Violeta Moreno-Lax, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Law, Queen Mary University of London
Salvatore Tesoriero, lawyer, Italy
Chiara Denaro, Alarmphone
Kashef, Alarmphone
Antonia Debus, Jugendrettet
Markus Stottut, Jugendrettet
Mecthild Stier, Lifeline
Lucia Gennari, Mediterranea
Giuseppe Caccia, Mediterranea
Oscar Camps, Open Arms
Georgia Linardi, Seawatch
Cornelia Schmidt, Seawatch
Doreen Johann, Seawatch
Maria Junker, Seawatch
Alina Lyapina, Seebruecke
Eva Maria Welling, Seebruecke
David Starke, SOS Méditerranée