Adrift : Coordination, capacity, and data gaps in the rescue of maritime refugees and migrants
Introduction
Maritime search and rescue (SAR) is widely assumed to be a seamless global system. This report, produced by the Foundationfor Humanitarian Action at Sea (FHAS) after two years of dialogue platforms, survey work, and desk research, challenges that assumption. Examining four of the world's busiest and deadliest maritime migration corridors—the Western Indian Ocean, the Northwest African Atlantic route, the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, and the Gulf of Aden—it finds significant gaps in the rescue architecture along some of the highest traffic routes for maritime migrants and refugees as well as global maritime trade.
The report identifies three cross-cutting challenges. First, rescue governance is fragmented: where regional cooperation does exist, it is overwhelmingly oriented toward maritime security and border enforcement rather than saving lives. Second, operational capacity is limited: FHAS and UN surveys show an enduring lack of rescue capacity in many countries. Third, the data picture is profoundly uncertain: fatality estimates from major humanitarian organisations diverge greatly, sometimes by an order of magnitude, and there is no systematic reporting of rescues or a common platform for rescue data.
The duty to save life at sea remains one of the oldest and most widely shared principles of maritime practice. Strengthening the governance institutions, partnerships, and information networks that support that duty is both a humanitarian imperative and a practical necessity for the future of maritime governance.
Image credit: Marcus Woodbridge, Unsplash.
Introduction
Maritime search and rescue (SAR) is widely assumed to be a seamless global system. This report, produced by the Foundationfor Humanitarian Action at Sea (FHAS) after two years of dialogue platforms, survey work, and desk research, challenges that assumption. Examining four of the world's busiest and deadliest maritime migration corridors—the Western Indian Ocean, the Northwest African Atlantic route, the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, and the Gulf of Aden—it finds significant gaps in the rescue architecture along some of the highest traffic routes for maritime migrants and refugees as well as global maritime trade.
The report identifies three cross-cutting challenges. First, rescue governance is fragmented: where regional cooperation does exist, it is overwhelmingly oriented toward maritime security and border enforcement rather than saving lives. Second, operational capacity is limited: FHAS and UN surveys show an enduring lack of rescue capacity in many countries. Third, the data picture is profoundly uncertain: fatality estimates from major humanitarian organisations diverge greatly, sometimes by an order of magnitude, and there is no systematic reporting of rescues or a common platform for rescue data.
The duty to save life at sea remains one of the oldest and most widely shared principles of maritime practice. Strengthening the governance institutions, partnerships, and information networks that support that duty is both a humanitarian imperative and a practical necessity for the future of maritime governance.
Image credit: Marcus Woodbridge, Unsplash.