Criminalising search and rescue activities can only lead to more deaths in the Mediterranean

Search and rescue activities have provided life-saving assistance to migrants in the Mediterranean, but they have also been portrayed by some actors in Europe as a ‘pull factor’ that encourages more migrants to attempt dangerous crossings. Eleanor Gordon and Henrik Kjellmo Larsen argue that efforts to criminalise the provision of search and rescue services by private vessels, together with the alleged use of ‘pushbacks’ to encourage boats to return to shore, can only lead to more deaths.