Migration over the Mediterranean
Foreign Office stops financial support for civilian sea rescuers
Critical voices have long been civil sea rescue from the Union. Now the Federal Foreign Office turns the money tap to the non -governmental organizations.
The Federal Foreign Office hires its financial support for civil sea rescue in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. “The Federal Government is not planning any further financial support for non -governmental organizations in civil sea rescue,” said the Federal AFP news agency on Wednesday. In the first quarter of this year, 900,000 euros still flowed to such organizations and two million euros in 2024.
According to the Federal Foreign Office, the funding went to organizations such as SOS Humanity, SOS Méditerranée, Resqship, Sea-Eye and Sant Egidio. Many of these organizations are committed to the sea rescue in the Mediterranean, where migrants from Africa are traveling towards Europe in often insecure boats.
Union sees sea rescue as an incentive for irregular migration
The Federal Foreign Office financially supported these organizations in the term of office of Greens Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The Union had always criticized this – among other things, with the argument that the sea rescuers de facto acted with tractor groups and promoted irregular migration to Europe.
Two years ago, the then Union foreign expert and today’s Federal Foreign Minister Johann WadePhul (CDU) had called for the end of the support. “In fact, albeit, of course, the rescue organizations enable the inhumane smuggling gangs their business,” said Wadephul in 2023. “No German tax money should be used for this.”
The chairman of Sea-Eye, Gorden Isler, criticized the deletion on Wednesday as a “fatal signal”. Financial support for Sea-Eye “made additional missions possible and saved human lives in a very concrete manner. Now it can happen that we have to stay in the harbor despite lakeshore.” Isler called for a continuation of the support.
AFP
EPP
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
