53 episodes

Saving lives at sea is not a crime

But for the past few years, European states have treated those brave enough to save refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean as if they were breaking the law.

Welcome to The Civil Fleet, a podcast by civilfleet.com that focuses on the NGO refugee rescuers in the central Mediterranean and beyond.

The Civil Fleet Podcast Ben Cowles

    • News
    • 5.0 • 4 Ratings

Saving lives at sea is not a crime

But for the past few years, European states have treated those brave enough to save refugees from drowning in the Mediterranean as if they were breaking the law.

Welcome to The Civil Fleet, a podcast by civilfleet.com that focuses on the NGO refugee rescuers in the central Mediterranean and beyond.

    Episode 53: ‘Sink or you're a smuggler’

    Episode 53: ‘Sink or you're a smuggler’

    IN THIS episode we speak with Nadia, a young refugee woman from Lebanon, and Alexandros, a Greek human rights lawyer.
     
    Nadia tells us how she and her husband Dawood were forced to leave Lebanon by boat, how they spent over 10 days at sea, and how, once they were rescued, Dawood was arrested by the Greek authorities and accused of human smuggling. 
     
    Alexandros tells us how he and his colleague Dmitris won the legal case against Dawood, and tells us more about the unjust EU directive that is locking up refugees. 
     
    --Get in touch---
     
    Twitter: @FleetCivil
     
    Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
     
    Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social
     
    Instagram: thecivilfleet
     
    info@civilfleet.com
     
    civilfleet.com
     
    Support:
     
    ko-fi.com/civilfleet

    ---Show Notes---
     
    For more on Dawood's case, read this article by the Human Rights Legal Project humanrightslp.eu/post/hrlp-lawyers-to-defend-dawood-who-has-been-in-custody-for-a-year-and-a-half
     
    Check the Human Rights Legal Project out here: humanrightslp.eu/who-we-are-hrlp
     
    For more on the situation in Lebanon following the 2020 explosion, read this Guardian report: theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/03/port-of-beirut-explosion-aftermath-scars-on-already-broken-lebanon
     
    Check out The Civil Fleet's previous interview with Alexandros about the Samos 2: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-26-the-samos-2-and-the-criminalisation-of-refugees-in-greece
     
    And here's the interview Alexandros helped set up with Hanad Abdi Mohammad, a Somalian refugee who was sentenced to 142 years behind bars because he momentarily steered a boat: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-35-sentenced-to-142-years-for-doing-what-any-human-would-do
     
    Want to see what Malta's search-and-rescue zone looks like? See the July-August 2022 issue of ECHOES from the Central Mediterranean: https://issuu.com/civilmrcc/docs/cmrcc_echoes_issue_1_jul_aug_2022
     
    Here's the UK Home Office's tweet of Ibrahima Bah, who was criminalised for steering a dinghy which collapsed in the Channel: twitter.com/ukhomeoffice/status/1761090973520576879
     
    For more on Ibrahima Bah, read this statement by Captain Support UK: captainsupport.net/jury-convicts-ibrahima-bah-statement-from-captain-support-uk/
     
    And this news report by Sky News: news.sky.com/story/ibrahima-bah-asylum-seeker-boat-pilot-locked-up-after-death-of-four-migrants-13078980
     
    For more on the Maersk Etienne, read about it here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Etienne/
     
    And check out episode 18 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Iason Apostolopoulos, who talks about it in that interview: civilfleet.libsyn.com/episode-18-there-is-no-end-to-this-cruelty
     

    • 1 hr 7 min
    Episode 52: Frontex, Pirates and Greek lies

    Episode 52: Frontex, Pirates and Greek lies

    In this episode, we speak with journalist Bashar Deeb from Lighthouse Reports about two investigations he worked on.
     
    The first, called 'Frontex and the Pirate Ship', is a disturbing story of how the European Border and Coastguard Agency helped a notorious Libyan rebel group intercept a refugee boat in the Mediterranean. 
     
    The second, ‘Drowning in Lies’, exposes how Greece tried to cover up its role in the Pylos shipwreck by tampering with witness testimony.
     
    --Get in touch---
     
    Twitter: @FleetCivil
     
    Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
     
    Instagram: thecivilfleet
     
    info@civilfleet.com
     
    civilfleet.com
     
    Support:
     
    ko-fi.com/civilfleet

    ---Show Notes---

    Check out Lighthouse Reports here: lighthousereports.com
     
    And follow them on Twitter: @LHreports
     
    Read Frontex and the Pirate Ship here: lighthousereports.com/investigation/frontex-and-the-pirate-ship/
     
    Read Drowning in Lies here: lighthousereports.com/investigation/drowning-in-lies/
     
    For more on Frontex, see episodes 50 and 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
     
    Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Frontex, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Frontex/
     
    Check out this 2021 report by Sea-Watch called ‘Crimes of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex in the Central Mediterranean Sea’ here: sea-watch.org/frontex_crimes/
     
    For more on the Tariq Ben Zeyad unit, read this Amnesty International report: amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/12/libya-hold-commanders-of-tariq-ben-zeyad-armed-group-accountable-for-catalogue-of-horrors/
     
    For more on the campaign group Refugees in Libya, check out episode 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
     
    In early 2020, The Civil Fleet exposed how the EU planned to continue to support the Libyan Coastguard despite the bloc's concerns the government was violating the human rights of migrants and profiting from their detention: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/02/21/eu-to-continue-supporting-the-libyan-coastguard-despite-its-fears-of-human-rights-abuses/
     
    Read this interview with a Somali refugee held in a bogus ‘refugee camp’ in Libya: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/03/09/they-lock-our-legs-together-with-a-chain-an-interview-with-a-slave/
     
    For more on Libya, check out episode 15 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
     
    Check out episode 33 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on the situation at the Lithuania-Belarus border
     
    For more on Malta's floating prisons, read this: maltatoday.com.mt/comment/blogs/102694/illegal_floating_prisons__carla_camilleri
     
    The UK is also holding people on the move on a floating prison, called the Bibby Stockholm. For more on that, see episodes 44 and 40 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. 
     
    It was the Maersk Etienne that rescued 27 people in 2020, which Malta refused to allow to come ashore. Listen to episode 18 and/or, read about it here: bit.ly/3HyJMHU
     
    For more on Alarm Phone, listen to episodes 48, 5, and 3 of The Civil Fleet Podcast. Read about them here, too: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Alarm-Phone/ 
     
    Read about the Crotone shipwreck here: msf.org/italy-over-60-people-killed-crotone-shipwreck 
     
    Read about the Pylos shipwreck, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2023/06/16/shipwreck-survivors-say-greek-coasts-towed-their-boat-before-it-sank/ 
     
    Ben was trying to paraphrase this quote by Robert Fisk at the end of the episode: Journalists rarely "move mountains or bring down regimes; instead, we just chip, chip, chip away at the rock face, hoping that someone notices — so that no one can say ‘we didn’t know’."

    • 50 min
    Episode 51: Europe's Bloody Borders

    Episode 51: Europe's Bloody Borders

    In this episode, we speak with Sergio from No Name Kitchen.
     
    He tells how the group supports people on the move along the Balkan route, and the types of violence they experience along the European Union's edges.
     
    Sergio also talks to us about No Name Kitchen's Bloody Borders report, and of the horrific levels of abuse suffered at European borders.
     
    --Get in touch---
     
    Twitter: @FleetCivil
     
    Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
     
    Instagram: thecivilfleet
     
    info@civilfleet.com
     
    civilfleet.com
     
    Support:
     
    ko-fi.com/civilfleet

    ---Show Notes---
     
    For more No Name Kitchen, visit: nonamekitchen.org
     
    Follow them on Twitter here: twitter.com/NoNameKitchen1
     
    Read NNK's Bloody Borders Report here: tinyurl.com/27ss86b8 
     
    If you'd like to volunteer with NNK, see here: nonamekitchen.org/volunteer/
     
    Check out Sergio's awesome NNK jumper here: nonamekitchen.org/shop/
     
    Check out episodes 6 (Irina) and 41 (with Barbara) of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on NNK. Episode 6 is here tinyurl.com/mrx2twad and episode 41 is here: tinyurl.com/yn8z2duk 
     
    Want to know where Ceuta is? See this Google Map: tinyurl.com/yftbf79v 
     
    Never heard of Šid? Here it is in Serbia: http://tinyurl.com/3j53k8r3


    According to the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM), at least 974 people died in the central Mediterranean in 2023, and at least 1,372 are missing. 17,025 people were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya.
     
    Watch the Emergency NGO video Ben mentions in the episode here: tinyurl.com/2d78v54z 
     

    Sergio mentions the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN). For more on them, check out episode 8 of The Civil Fleet Podcast here: tinyurl.com/2p8v39s4. And see their website here: borderviolence.eu
     
    Sergio mentions Lighthouse Reports. For more on them, see here: https://www.lighthousereports.com. And, check out episode 34 of The Civil Fleet Podcast: tinyurl.com/3bez9u9c 
     
    We very briefly mention the situation for people on the move at the Belarus border. For more on that, check out episode 33 of The Civil Fleet Podcast: tinyurl.com/2mkrwepe 

    Ben makes yet another reference to the works of Noam Chomsky in this episode when he talks about ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy victims.’ For more on that, read about it here: chomsky.info/consent01, or listen to it here: tinyurl.com/muttcnmw.

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Episode 50: Abolish Frontex

    Episode 50: Abolish Frontex

    In this episode we speak with Josephine from Abolish Frontex, a decentralised network of activist groups focused on ending the EU's deadly border regime.
     
    Josephine is going to tell us about Frontex, which is the European Border and Coastguard Agency, it's many scandals, it's operations within and outside Europe, and why it should be abolished.
     
    We also talk about the International Day of Action the network is calling for on December 18th, demanding Frontex ends its operations in Africa. 
     
    --Get in touch---
     
    Twitter: @FleetCivil
     
    Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
     
    Instagram: thecivilfleet
     
    info@civilfleet.com
     
    civilfleet.com
     
    Support: 
    ko-fi.com/civilfleet

    ---Show Notes---
     
    For more on Abolish Frontex visit: abolishfrontex.org
     
    For more of the network's demands, see here: abolishfrontex.org/how
     
    For more on the International Day of Action, see here: abolishfrontex.org/blog/2023/10/30/frontex-out-of-africa-join-our-international-action-day-on-18-12-2023/ 
     
    For more on Frontex's involvement in pushbacks in Greece, read this:
    https://www.dw.com/en/eu-border-force-frontex-implicated-in-migrant-abuse/a-49892097
     
    See this article for more on Frontex's involvement in the abuse of people on the move in the Balkans: balkaninsight.com/2020/02/06/frontexs-history-of-handling-abuse-evidence-dogs-balkan-expansion/
     
    Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of Frontex, here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Frontex/
     
    Ben mentions an arms fair that took place in London this summer. For more on that, see: stopthearmsfair.org.uk
     

    For more on the Transnational Institue, go here: tni.org/en
     
    Ben, briefly mentions Frag Den Staat (Ask the State). See here for more on them: fragdenstaat.de
     
    And, check out episode 23 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Frag Den Staat's Luisa Izuzquiza – in which we focus on Frontex
     
    Want to know more about the Balkan route that Ben and Josephine briefly mention? Then check out episodes 41 (with No Nae Kitchen) and episode 8 (Border Violence Monitoring Network - BVMN)

    • 52 min
    Episode 49: Safe Passage for Refugees

    Episode 49: Safe Passage for Refugees

    In this episode, we speak with Paul O'Connor the senior national officer at the Public and Commerical Services (PCS) union - one of the largest unions in the UK, representing workers across all government departments and in the private sector. 
     

    Paul tells us about the safe passage for refugees policy the union's members wrote with Care4Calais, and why it is a genuinely humanitarian way to stop the small boat crossings of the Channel. 
     

    We also touch on working class solidarity, anti-fascism and, the Bibby Stockholm, the hostile environment, and how a string of governments have created the asylum-seeker backlog. 

    --Get in touch---
     
    Twitter: @FleetCivil
     
    Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
     
    Instagram: thecivilfleet
     
    info@civilfleet.com
     
    civilfleet.com
     
    Support: 
    ko-fi.com/civilfleet
     

    ---Show Notes---
     

    For more on the PCS union, see: pcs.org.uk
     

    For more on PCS and Care4Calais' Safe Passage Policy, read about it here: https://care4calais.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Safe-Passage-Policy-Paper.pdf
     

    If you'd like to email your MP about PCS's safe passage policy, see here: action.pcs.org.uk/page/134188/action/1 
     

    Ben and Paul speak about the Tories throughout this episode. The Tories is the nickname of the ruling Conservative Party.
     

    For more on The World Transformed, the festival Ben mentions in the episode, see here: theworldtransformed.org
     

    See here for more on the UK Border Force training to push refugees back across the Channel already, here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2022/01/14/uk-border-force-may-have-begun-attempts-to-push-refugees-back-across-the-channel-already-evidence-suggests/
     

    For more on Channel Rescue and Care4Calais, see episodes 11 and 17 of The Civil Fleet Podcast
     

    Ben and Paul speak about Priti Patel a few times in this episode. She was the UK's Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. She was replaced by Suella Braverman. The Home Secretary is a similar governmental role to interior minister in many European countries. 
     

    For more on the UK's treatment of refugees, the Rwanda Scheme, the Hostile Environment, the Illegal Immigration Act and the Bibby Stockholm see episodes 21, 25, 32, 38, 39, 40, 42 and 44.
     

    Paul mention Detention Action. For more on them, see: detentionaction.org.uk
     

    Ben and Paul speak about the FBU, which is the Fire Brigades Union. For more on the union's solidarity work with refugees, see here: https://www.fbu.org.uk/news/2023/03/05/trade-unions-unite-solidarity-refugees
     

    Paul mentions the Scottish Rolls-Royce workers who refused to work on fighter jets bound for Chile in the 1970s, when the country was ruled by the western-back dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. For more on that, check out the documentary film Nae Pasaran, here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/naepasaran 
     

    For more on the vast amounts of money the UK government has spent in France trying to stop people from crossing the Channel, see this Al Jazeera report from March 2023: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/10/uk-to-fund-france-detention-centre-as-leaders-agree-migration-deal

    • 51 min
    Episode 48: Europe's Tunisian border

    Episode 48: Europe's Tunisian border

    Jihed, a Tunisian activist with Alarm Phone and Louise Michelle, talks to us about the mistreatment of refugees / migrants / people on the move in Tunisia in this episode. 
     
    He tells us how a speech by Tunisia's President Kais Said earlier this year — in which he spouted off racist, far-right conspiracy theories — affected refugees in Tunisia. 
     
    We hear about border violence between Tunisia and Libya, and how Europe's border operates inside the country. 
     
    Jihed was also an active participant in the Tunisian revolution. He tells us about that and its effects on refugees today. We also hear how Kais Said's government oppresses Tunisian citizens. 
     
    --Get in touch---
     
    Twitter: @FleetCivil
     
    Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social
     
    Instagram: thecivilfleet
     
    info@civilfleet.com
     
    civilfleet.com
     
    Support: 
    ko-fi.com/civilfleet

    ---Show Notes---

    You can follow Jihed on Twitter here: @brirmijihed
     

    For more on Alarm Phone visit: alarmphone.org, and find them on Twitter on @alarm_phone.
     
     
    For more on Louise Michel, visit: mvlouisemichel.org. Follow Louise Michel on Twitter: @MVLouiseMichel
     

    For more on human rights issues in Tunisia, read Amnesty International's 2022 report, here: amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/tunisia/report-tunisia/
     
     
    For more on the EU's anti-migrant deals with Tunisia, read this Human Rights Watch article: https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/28/eu-commission-should-stop-ignoring-tunisias-abuses-against-migrants 
     

    Ben mentions people across Europe being afraid to help refugees for fear of being accused of people smuggling. Check out The Civil Fleet Podcast's episodes 47, 41, 36, 35, 33, 28, 24, 17, 16, 9, 8 and 2 for more on this. 
     
     
    Ben also mentions how refugees in Europe are also being kept in cars for hours in hot weather as a form of torture before they're pushed back across borders. See episode 34 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with Lighthouse Reports for more on this. 
     
     
    Jihed mentioned Maldusa, an Italian cultural association that supports migrant solidarity efforts across the country. Check out episode 46 of The Civil Fleet Podcast to hear from Maldusa activist Jasmine.  

    • 57 min

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