UNHCR Guidelines supported by ICS
IMO, ICS and UNHCR have joinlty prepared a leaflet to provide guidance on relevant legal provisions, and on practicalprocedures to ensure the prompt disembarkation of survivors of rescue operations, and measures to meet their specific needs, particularly in the case of refugees and asylum-seekers.
What needs to be taken by the various parties involved in rescue at sea
Action by the shipmaster
Inform the Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) responsible for the region as to:
the assisting ship:
- its name, flag and port of registry;
- name and address of the owner and the owner’s agent at the next port;
- position of the vessel, its next intended port of call, its continuing safety and current endurance with additional persons on board;
the survivors:
- name, age (if possible), gender;
- apparent health, medical condition and special medical needs;
actions completed or intended to be taken by the master
master’s preferred arrangement for disembarking the survivors
any help needed by the assisting ship
any special factors (eg. prevailing weather, time sensitive cargo, etc)
If people rescued at sea claim asylum:
- alert the closest RCC;
- contact UNHCR;
- do not ask for disembarkation in the country of origin or from which the individual has fled;
- do not share personal information regarding the asylum-seekers with the authorities of that country, or with others who might convey this information to those authorities.
Action by Governments and Rescue Co-ordination Centres (RCCs)
The RCCs have an important role to play to ensure co-operation and co-ordination arrangements under the Amendments to the SOLAS and SAR Conventions. They need to maintain effective plans of operation and co-ordinating arrangements (interagency or international plans and agreements if appropriate) in order to respond to all types of search and rescue situations, notably:
- a recovery operation;
- disembarkation of survivors from a ship;
- delivery of survivors to a place of safety;
- arrangements with other entities (such as customs, border control and immigration authorities, ship owner or flag State),while survivors are still aboard the assisting ship with regard to nationalities, status or circumstances of the survivors; including temporary provisions for hosting survivors while such issues are being resolved;
- and measures to relieve the ship as soon as practicable, avoiding undue delay, financial burden or other difficulties incurred by assisting persons at sea.
More details may be found by reading IMO, ICS, UNHCR Guide – RESCUE AT SEA
Websites
ICS – http://www.ics-shipping.org/
IMO –http://www.imo.org/
UNHRC – http://www.ohchr.org
