Protection of Human Life at Sea in International Law : Rescuing Maritime Migrants

This book exposes the human rights violations against migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea, critiques the inadequate European legal responses, and strongly advocates for the development of a framework for operationalising the protection of human rights – and life – at sea.

The law of the sea imposes a long-established duty to rescue persons in distress, which connotes one of the most important tools in safeguarding safety of life at sea. Other rules of international law, namely, international human rights and refugee law also come into play in drawing the legal parameters for the conduct of rescue operations. Amid the thousands of people undertaking perilous sea journeys in search of safety, European legal responses have primarily focused on the securitization of migration. This book exposes the human rights violations that may be perpetrated against migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean and strongly advocates for the development of a framework for operationalizing the protection of human rights – and life – at sea. It combines theory and practice in which philosophical theories of rights are applied to create a framework for legal analysis and the development of practical legal standards. The study presents an innovative evaluation of selected judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and other international human rights bodies pertaining to complex questions of extraterritorial jurisdiction and a State's human rights obligations towards persons in distress at sea. The book will be of interest to all those engaging with migration and security studies, international human rights scholarship, international law of the sea, refugee and migration law and legal philosophy, whether generalist or specialist.