This paper focuses on the dismantling of SASEMAR, Spain's public SAR agency, over the last 5 years, and its gradual replacement by the European Coast Border Gard (EBCG-Frontex) and the Moroccan Royal Navy in the Western Mediterranean.
Paper long abstract:
Search-and-Rescue (SAR) operations in the Mediterranean region have been under scrutiny over the last decade. In their determination to halt and deter unwanted migration, EU member states have sought to limit life-saving maritime operations and avoid their international commitment in three main ways: by limiting their own SAR capacities, by criminalising private and civil society actors conducting SAR operations, and by externalising SAR responsibilities to origin and transit countries such as Libya or Morocco. These actions are a clear contravention of international, EU, and domestic regulations; the supposed threat that sea migrants pose to national and EU security and identity serve to justify this "letting die" approach at sea. This paper focuses on the dismantling of SASEMAR, Spain's public SAR agency, over the last 5 years, and its gradual replacement by the European Coast Border Gard (EBCG-Frontex) and the Moroccan Royal Navy in the Western Mediterranean. Using qualitative interviews, non-participant observation, statistical information (both publicly available and obtained through FOAI requests), and spatial data, I demonstrate how the weakening of SASEMAR is key to the transformation and territorial re-definition of the Spanish-EU border, allowing Spain and the EU to avoid their duties to protect human life at sea and increasing the vulnerability of migrants.