Help us make the FRA website better for you!
Take part in a one-to-one session and help us improve the FRA website. It will take about 30 minutes of your time.
Conclusion
EU Member States should clearly distinguish between migrant smugglers and those enforcing the human rights imperative to save lives at sea, acting out of humanitarian considerations or following international legal obligations on rescue at sea. Measures to combat migrant smuggling and facilitation of irregular migration should not target humanitarian actors. The ongoing revision of the EU Facilitation Directive 2002/90/EC constitute an opportunity to find ways to exclude humanitarian assistance from being punished.
The 2017 UNHCR guidance on search and rescue operations at sea, including the non-penalisation of those taking part in these activities, together with the updated IMO and UNHCR guide Rescue at sea – A guide to principles and practice in the context of refugees and migrants movements (April 2025) and the UNHCR legal considerations on the roles and responsibilities of States in relation to rescue at sea, non-refoulement, and access to asylum(December 2022), provide useful guidance for national authorities and courts on finding the right balance between applicable international and EU law, and national law.
For more information, see the following FRA publications:
- FRA (2013), Fundamental rights at Europe’s southern sea borders, 27 March 2013,
- FRA (2018), Fundamental rights considerations – NGO ships involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean and criminal investigations, 1 October 2018,
- FRA (2023), Preventing and responding to deaths at sea – What the European Union can do, 6 July 2023,
- FRA (2024), Fundamental Rights Report 2024, 5 June 2024, Chapter 3,
- FRA (2024), Guidance on investigating alleged ill-treatment at borders, 30 July 2024,
- FRA (2025), Fundamental Rights Report 2025, 10 June 2025, Introduction, pp. 16-19.
- For FRA’s previous regular updates on SAR in the Mediterranean, see Search and rescue | European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.