After the arrest of "Sea-Watch 3" captain Carola Rackete in Italy, Jesuit Refugee Service called to stop the criminalization of the helpers immediately. "It is not understandable that people who help other people in need therefore have to expect criminal prosecution", explained Stefan Keßler, JRS policy officer in a statement. "Humanity is not a crime.”

Carola Rackete, 31, the German captain of 'Sea-Watch 3' was arrested end of June in Italy. After two weeks of waiting on the high seas, the captain had steered her ship to the port of Lampedusa. The situation for 42 Africans whom the 'Sea-Watch 3' had rescued from distress at sea had become unbearable. But this operation violated the instructions of the Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, according to which ships with people rescued from distress at sea may not dock in the ports of his country. The captain is now threatened with legal proceedings.

How can that be? Rackete and her crew have simply done what both humanity and international maritime law require: Refugees rescued from drowning and taken to a safe haven. What is macabre about this case is that if Sea-Watch 3 had taken the refugees to Libya, no public prosecutor would have been interested in it, even though refugees in Libya have to fear for life, limb and freedom.

The case of 'Sea-Watch 3' and her captain makes three things clear.

Firstly, the European Union must finally develop a procedure to ensure that it is not only the Mediterranean countries that have to take in refugees rescued from sea distress. If the EU does not succeed in this, there must be at least one "coalition of the willing" of receptive states. Many German municipalities have recently declared themselves willing to accept such people. These initiatives must be taken up and implemented.

Secondly: Salvini's policy of isolation at any price, even that of human life, must have consequences. It violates fundamental rules and values of the European Union. Infringement proceedings against the Italian Government are inevitable.

Finally, the criminalization of the helpers must be stopped immediately. It is incomprehensible that people who help other people in need should therefore expect to be prosecuted. Humanity is not a crime".