Amid the migration crisis, the Protestant church-launched United4Rescue association is sending its third coalition ship – Sea-Watch 5 – to the Mediterranean for “sea rescue”. For migrants, this sea rescue is nothing more than a free ticket to Europe. Once you’ve arrived in Italy, the generous social benefits in Germany are already at your disposal.
Last week “Sea-Watch 5” departed from Vinaros, Spain. As announced by the Sea-Watch organization in Berlin and the “United4Rescue” coalition in Hanover, this is the first use of the new ship to “rescue refugees” in the Mediterranean Sea. On Friday, Sea-Watch 5 traveled in the Mediterranean Sea between Tunisia and Sardinia.
The former Norwegian supply ship for wind power and oil platforms was purchased by the Sea-Watch association last year for 4.5 million euros and is due to be christened “Sea-Watch 5” in Hamburg in early November 2022. It was converted into a rescue ship in Flensburg until October 2023. It is financed, among other things, by donations, the German postcode lottery and the “United4Rescue” coalition, as it was called, initiated by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The new ship is the largest Sea Watch ship ever built, measuring 58 meters long and offering space for up to 500 people; A team of 29 people is available to care for the “rescued”.
According to Sea-Watch, the purchase of the ship last year was intended to represent a declaration of war against the Italian government’s shift to the right. Furthermore, the use of the new rescue ship is intended to send a signal against a recently published draft law by the German Interior Ministry, according to which maritime rescuers face prison sentences. It is about a planned change to section 96 of the Residence Act, which makes “smuggling of aliens” a criminal offence. According to it, anyone who “helps foreigners enter the EU without a visa” “repeatedly or for the benefit of several foreigners” can be punished – even without seeking financial compensation. Although the Federal Interior Ministry has denied that penalties for private sea rescues are planned, marine rescuers are demanding a corresponding “reform” in the draft law.
While Italy and Greece have for years been taking action against these so-called maritime rescuers, who are generally seen as nothing more than smugglers, it is unlikely that Germany will join these countries. Finally, the Traffic Light Government has decided to support the “United4Rescue” action coalition with 2 million euros per year for the next four years, amounting to 8 million euros. This alliance was formed on the initiative of EKD. The founder and chairman is Theis Gundlach, the life partner of Green Bundestag Vice-President Göring-Eckardt, who has been campaigning for so-called private sea rescues for years (and, in the opinion of the opposition, thus openly promoting human trafficking and human trafficking). smuggling).
It is hard to beat the audacity of a coalition backed by the Protestant Church to send migrants to Europe instead of taking them to the nearest safe port amid a worsening migration crisis. It is not without reason that these private sea rescuers are also called smugglers – at least there is evidence of cooperation between such organizations and smugglers. Supporting the government with taxpayers’ money can only be described as irresponsible and proves once again that the social system has no desire to curb illegal migration.
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