Germany to stop funding migrant rescue ships in Mediterranean

Almost 750 people reported dead or missing after attempting perilous sea crossing so far this year

A Sea-Watch crew member gives lifejackets to migrants on an overcrowded inflatable boat in the Mediterranean in 2022. Reuters

The German government is to cut funding for groups that rescue migrants in distress when they cross the Mediterranean Sea.

New budget plans by Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil do not include money for migrant rescue, Germany's Foreign Ministry has said.

The German government had been giving about €2 million ($2.34 million) a year to the cause, with almost €900,000 going to groups such as Sea-Eye, SOS Humanity and Sant’Egidio, according to TV news channel Deutsche Welle (DW).

Sea-Eye hit back at the decision, fearing that without the financing it may no longer be able to operate.

"The reduction in funding will have a profound impact on our work," spokeswoman Konstanze Schön told The National. "It threatens our ability to operate and maintain a presence in the Central Mediterranean, where our mission is to save lives.

"For years, we've been performing duties that, in truth, fall under the responsibility of the European Union and its member states. European governments have failed to rescue people in distress at sea. This gap should not exist."

The organisation relied on private donations when it was founded in 2015 and began receiving central German funding in 2022. It does not receive finance from other governments.

Ms Schön urged EU governments to "take full responsibility" by setting up other state-run sea rescue programmes.

She said the German Bundestag, its parliament, "must continue to allocate federal funding to support the essential work of civil sea rescue organisations".

"Protecting human lives and upholding human rights must always be prioritised over military expenditure," she added. "Anything less would send a disastrous political message."

Will groups such as Sea-Watch be able to keep operations running once the funding is cut? Reuters

The Mediterranean is one of the most dangerous migrant routes in the world, with more 32,000 people reported missing there since 2014, according to the Missing Migrants Project (MMP).

The deadliest year for migrants on record was 2024, with nearly 9,000 killed worldwide, more than 2,450 of those in the Mediterranean. Almost 750 people have died or are missing after attempting to cross the sea so far this year.

Newly elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has long contested funding sea rescue operations and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul claimed while in opposition that "sea rescue organisations were de facto collaborating with smuggling groups and promoting irregular migration to Europe".

Opposition politician Jamila Schafer, of the Greens, said cutting funding would make the routes even deadlier without reducing migration.

"We pay for a fire service to save lives on land," she told German news agency DPA. "We should also not let people drown in the sea."

Italy's right-wing, populist government passed a law in February 2023 to clampdown on migrant rescue operations. That year, the number of migrant deaths and missing persons peaked at 3,155, the highest since 2014, MMP data showed.