The first national solidarity conference in Montpellier: “Saving lives at sea is our collective responsibility”

A moment of reflection in memory of the 30,000 people who disappeared in the Mediterranean. Midi Libre - SYLVIE CAMBON

The first Conference on the Law of the Sea and Solidarity, led by the Parliament of the Sea and the rescue NGO SOS Méditerranée, took place on Thursday at the Parc-Expo in Montpellier.

The tears of emotion of Laourata, a Guinean mother, recounting her forced exile, marked the first edition of the Conference on the Law of the Sea and Solidarity, on Thursday in Montpellier, in front of 600 people.

She spoke of giving birth to her son in a forest in Morocco, of the Spanish authorities' helicopter coming to save her in extremis while she was at sea, her 5-month-old baby in her arms, because the inflatable boat "had a hole in it." Or of her life which resumed, in Carcassonne, with refugee status.

With her words, she came to illustrate the hell experienced by all these candidates for exile, who do not hesitate to put their lives on the line for the candle of better days in Europe.

And This is in a tense context where European countries are tightening up on immigration, led by Italy, which is beginning to outsource its refugees to Albania, a source of inspiration for the French government, which“does not prohibit it”, according to its spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, Thursday in Paris.

But these meetings, co-organized by the Occitanie Region's maritime parliament and SOS Méditerranée, have come to recall two essential elements.

“30,000 missing at sea, these are the populations of Lodève and Frontignan united”

One: countries like Libya or Tunisia trade in this misfortune, with the lucrative business of human trafficking, racketeering, assaulting, sometimes raping. When they do not die during these high-risk sea crossings.

And Jean-Pierre Lacan, linchpin of SOS Méditerranée and the assizes, to launch a minute of silence with a thought “for the 30,000 people who have disappeared at sea. These are the populations of Frontignan and Lodève combined.”

Two: Europe, by subsidizing these countries responsible for stemming the flow of migrants, sometimes maintains a mafia system and turns a blind eye. It does not respect its foundations by ensuring the protection of its borders and, also, human lives.

“These funding policies create a pull factor and maintain the drama and tragedy in the Mediterranean. In 2023, we broke a mortality record", denounced Sophie Beau, director of the NGO.

"We have to deal with these countries", replied Denise Kwantès, head of the European Community's external borders unit, defending the EU's efforts in this area.

But the organizers and supporters – Department of Hérault, Montpellier Metropolis – called on everyone to take responsibility.

The rule of sea rescue

"These meetings are an opportunity to reaffirm our values ​​and send a message to the government, the Minister of the Interior and the European Union: we do not abandon these people who are trying to flee to our shores to their fate, it is our collective responsibility to save human lives in the Mediterranean", indicated, via a video message, the President of the Region Carole Delga.

Her institution participates in the platform of solidarity communities financially supporting SOS Méditerranée, like the city of Montpellier.

"Cities can get more involved"

“We are happy to participate in the operation of sea rescue days. The first deliberation of my municipal council was the vote for such a subsidy”, recalled the mayor, Michaël Delafosse, proclaiming the need to “reaffirm the law of the sea. Cities can get more involved.”

Sylvie Pradelle, for the Department, recalled this truth, one of the leitmotifs of the day: “If we do not save people, we are outlaw”, she says, where Geneviève Tapié, from the Observatory of Parity and vice-president of the parliament of the sea, drives the point home, after recalling the dramas of Lampedusa, denouncing that in “”Mediterranean, we don't apply the rule of sea rescue.”

A second edition announced

The Atlantic and of course the Channel, the scene of almost daily dramas, were also discussed. Alain Ledaguenel, who heads the SNSM in Dunkirk, confirms this, as rescuers are saddened witnesses of fatal crossings, even though England, aided by Europe, is deploying human resources (thousands of police officers) and technological resources - drones - to try to contain the migratory flow.

“My teams just called me, this Thursday at noon. They rescued 25 people yesterday and they are still going back to sea”, he reports.

This amplification of a migratory problem is part of the long term, the mayor of Montpellier, like Didier Codorniou, president of the parliament of the sea, have already made an appointment for a second edition.

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