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After 5 days of wandering at sea, 40 survivors, some of whom are in a state of shock, are still awaiting authorization to enter the port of Zarzis in Tunisia.
About 40 migrants of sub-Saharan origin and Egyptian were rescued in the evening of Sunday, July 15, 2018 off Zarzis by units of the Tunisian Navy. The Tunisian-flagged supply vessel Sarost 5 arrived in front of the port of Zarzis on the night of 16 July 2018 but was denied entry to the port by the Tunisian authorities who claim to be in negotiations to make the decision to whether to welcome the ship or not
These illegal immigrants came from Libya and tried to reach the Italian shores aboard a boat, before the latter broke down and the platform Miskar of the British Gas company, in international waters off Kerkennah, had launched an alert. Malta's rescue center (MRCC) dispatched the nearest ship, Caroline III, to help the people on board. The crew of Caroline III then discovered 40 people, including 8 women, one of whom had been lost at sea for 5 days. The Carolina III then called the rescue centers (MRCC) of Italy, France and Malta who refused to welcome these survivors claiming that the nearest ports were located in Tunisia.
Saturday 14 July at 15h, according to the captain of Sarost 5 who was a supply mission for the gas platform, his boat would have obtained the agreement of the competent maritime authorities to take care of the survivors on board and forward them to the port of Sfax . These instructions were changed on the way to Zarzis port on 14 July. For more than 48 hours now his ship is held to be immobilized off the port of Zarzis with its 40 survivors some of whom are in shock. On the initiative of the company owning his ship and in collaboration with the Tunisian Red Crescent, provisions and medical aid are being transported to the boat.
The signatory associations appeal to the Tunisian authorities, and in particular those responsible for the control of maritime borders and rescue at sea, to comply urgently with their obligations under, in particular, the International Convention for the Protection of Life (SOLAS), the International Convention on and the Maritime Rescue (SAR) and its Protocols, as well as the Montego Bay Convention on the Law of the Sea signed on December 10, 1982. Although the response to this distress situation in no way guarantees the rights of migrant the absence of a law governing asylum or the guarantee of a fair, equitable and individual Tunisia is not yet considered a "safe country."
The evocation of the facts referred to reinforces the concern already expressed about the objectives and the desire to expand north of the Tunisian search and rescue area, since the beginning of operation Frontex's Triton operation
The signatory associations recall the responsibilities undertaken by the Italian, Maltese and French governments in this emergency situation, because any return of the ship not duly justified amounts to contravening the principle of non-refoulement of persons on board.
They also wish to reaffirm:
- The refusal of Tunisia to face the fait accompli of the new European choices of outsourcing their borders and ignoring the rights of migrants to access a safe country, at the expense of effective threats to the life of the shipwrecked. .es en mer.
- Their strong opposition to the project proposed at the last European summit on 29 June 2018 of "landing platforms" in countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean that contravenes the implementation of procedural safeguards in European law on reception of persons and examination of individual situations
Signatory Associations and Organizations:
Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights
Euromed Rights Network
Tunisian Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Child (ATDDE)
The Tunisian Federation for a Citizenship of the Two Shores (FTCR)
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