Occupational Hazards in the Light
of the Maritime Migration Challenge
Laura Carballo Piñeiro
Abstract Maritime migration is not only testing the resilience of the international
human rights framework, but also that of the law of the sea. Whoever encounters
people in distress is under the obligation to rescue and bring them to a place of
safety. However, the political environment is moving States to refuse disembarkation and thus putting a huge pressure upon merchant shipping and fishing as they
cannot immediately continue their business after rescue. This pressure has been
augmented by the fact that the line between rescue operation and maritime interception is becoming blurred and crewmembers criminalise as migration facilitators. The
paper discusses the maritime migration challenge from the maritime professionals’
angle and the occupational hazards endured as a result of a rescue operation. While
they are collateral victims of a geopolitical matter, the legislation in place already
provides a safety net for them, but one that is not much efficient and effective on a
closer look.
1 Introduction
The significance of the maritime migration challenge can be measured in many ways
starting with the most obvious one, i.e. by counting both the number of people
arriving at destination countries and the death figure of those who have not made
it. The figure of irregular migrants and refugees arriving to Europe reached a peak in
2015 when Frontex reported about 1.55 million (Frontex 2016). That figure has
sharply decreased in 2017 pointing to a total number of 204,700 people (Frontex
2018) and 150,000 in 2018 (Frontex 2019). As to deaths, and despite of organizations such as UNITED Against Racism, The Migrant’s Files, and the Deaths at the
Borders Database committed to report them, figures are uncertain. The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that 14,469 people have lost their lives
L. Carballo Piñeiro (*)
Nippon Foundation Chair of Maritime Labour Law and Policiy, World Maritime University,
Malmö, Sweden
e-mail: LC@wmu.se
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_5
77
of the Maritime Migration Challenge
Laura Carballo Piñeiro
Abstract Maritime migration is not only testing the resilience of the international
human rights framework, but also that of the law of the sea. Whoever encounters
people in distress is under the obligation to rescue and bring them to a place of
safety. However, the political environment is moving States to refuse disembarkation and thus putting a huge pressure upon merchant shipping and fishing as they
cannot immediately continue their business after rescue. This pressure has been
augmented by the fact that the line between rescue operation and maritime interception is becoming blurred and crewmembers criminalise as migration facilitators. The
paper discusses the maritime migration challenge from the maritime professionals’
angle and the occupational hazards endured as a result of a rescue operation. While
they are collateral victims of a geopolitical matter, the legislation in place already
provides a safety net for them, but one that is not much efficient and effective on a
closer look.
1 Introduction
The significance of the maritime migration challenge can be measured in many ways
starting with the most obvious one, i.e. by counting both the number of people
arriving at destination countries and the death figure of those who have not made
it. The figure of irregular migrants and refugees arriving to Europe reached a peak in
2015 when Frontex reported about 1.55 million (Frontex 2016). That figure has
sharply decreased in 2017 pointing to a total number of 204,700 people (Frontex
2018) and 150,000 in 2018 (Frontex 2019). As to deaths, and despite of organizations such as UNITED Against Racism, The Migrant’s Files, and the Deaths at the
Borders Database committed to report them, figures are uncertain. The International
Organization for Migration (IOM) estimated that 14,469 people have lost their lives
L. Carballo Piñeiro (*)
Nippon Foundation Chair of Maritime Labour Law and Policiy, World Maritime University,
Malmö, Sweden
e-mail: LC@wmu.se
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
P. K. Mukherjee et al. (eds.), Maritime Law in Motion, WMU Studies in Maritime
Affairs 8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31749-2_5
77