The New York Times, “Migrants Die as Burning Boat Capsizes Off Italy” (3 October 2013), available online: ; BBC News, “Italy Boat Sinking: Hundreds Feared Dead Off Lampedusa” (3 October 2013), available online: ; Deutsche Welle, “Police in Italy arrest Somalia National Accused of Organizing Deadly Migrant Voyage” (9 November 2013), available online: .

BBC News, “Lampedusa Boat Tragedy: Migrants 'Raped and Tortured'” (8 November 2013), available online: .

BBC News, “Mediterranean 'A Cemetery' – Maltese PM Muscat” (12 October 2013), available online: .

UN News, “After Latest Lampedusa Tragedy, Ban Calls for Action to Protect Human Rights of Migrants” (12 October 2013), available online: .

Frontex, “Update on Central Mediterranean Route”, available online: .

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (adopted 10 December 1982, entered into force 16 November 1994) 1833 UNTS 3 [LOSC].

International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (adopted 27 April 1979, entered into force 22 June 1985) 405 UNTS 97 [SAR Convention].

SAR Convention, Annex Chapter 1 para. 1.3.13.

European Commission Proposal for a Council Decision of 27 November 2007 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of the operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, COM (2009) 658 final, Explanatory Memorandum, para. 2.

ILC, Yearbook of the International Law Commission (New York: ILC, 1979), Vol. II, Part II, 135, para. 10, available online: . Although this definition was given during the discussions on the concept of ‘distress’ as one of the grounds for excluding wrongfulness with regard to the Draft Articles on State Responsibility, the definition is often being used to describe the situation of distress of persons at sea. See for example: Barnes, Richard A., “Refugee Law at Sea”, 53 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 47 (2004), 60.

European Commission Proposal for a Council Decision of 27 November 2007 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of the operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, COM (2009) 658 final, Explanatory Memorandum, para. 2.

Moreno-Lax, Violeta, “Seeking Asylum in the Mediterranean: Against a Fragmentary Reading of EU Member States’ Obligations Accruing at Sea”, 23 International Journal of Refugee Law 174 (2011), 195.

Council Decision (EU) No. 2010/252 of 26 April 2010 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of the operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, OJ L 111/20 of 4 May 2010.

Council Regulation (EC) No. 2007/2004 of 26 October 2004 establishing a European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Border of the Member States of the European Union, OJ L 349/1 of 25 November 2004.

ECJ, European Parliament v. Council of the European Union, 17 April 2012, Opinion of Advocate General Mengozzi, Case C-355/10 (2012) and ECJ, European Parliament v. Council of the European Union, 5 September 2012, Case C-355/10 (2012).

Council Decision (EU) No. 2010/252 of 26 April 2010 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of the operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, OJ L 111/20 of 4 May 2010, Annex Part II para. 1.3.

Council Decision (EU) No. 2010/252 of 26 April 2010 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of the operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, OJ L 111/20 of 4 May 2010, Annex Part II para. 1.4.

COMSAR, “Matters Concerning Search and Rescue Including Those Related to the 1979 SAR Conference and the Introduction of the GMDSS”, IMO Doc. COMSAR 5/INF. 2 (17 April 2000), para. 52.

Klepp, Silja, “A Double Bind: Malta and the Rescue of Unwanted Migrants at Sea, A Legal Anthropological Perspective on the Humanitarian Law of the Sea”, 23 International Journal of Refugee Law 538 (2011), 551-554.

UNHCR, “One Survivor, 54 Die at Sea Attempting the Voyage to Italy from Libya”, Press Release (10 July 2012), available online: .

Carling, Jorgen, “Migration Control and Migrant Fatalities at the Spanish-African Borders”, 41 International Migration Review 316 (2007), 327. See also: Nessel, Lori A., “Externalized Borders and the Invisible Refugee”, 40 Columbia Human Rights Law Review 625 (2009).

MSC, “Interim Measures for Combating Unsafe Practices Associated with the Trafficking or Transport of Illegal Migrants by Sea”, IMO Doc. MSC.1/Circ. 896/Rev. I (12 June 2001), para. 4.

Early 2012, a migrant vessel – crewed by three smugglers and carrying 58 passengers – set sail for Yemen. However, the boat’s engine broke down and smugglers forced 22 passengers overboard. After five days, the boat capsized in rough seas and bad weather. At least 11 people drowned following this boat incident. See: UNHCR, “Somalis Perish in New Boat Disaster in Gulf of Aden”, Briefing Note (10 February 2012), available online: .

UNODC, “Smuggling of Migrants by Sea”, Issue Paper (2011), 7, available online: .

Mallia, Patricia, Migrant Smuggling by Sea: Combating a Current Threat to Maritime Security through the Creation of a Cooperative Framework (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2009), 98.

Migrants at Sea, “Question Raised Whether Migrant Boat Sank Off Lampedusa Last Week” (9 September 2012), available online: .

PACE launched an inquiry in 2011 to investigate why over 1.000 migrants had died or perished in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach European soil from North Africa. See PACE, “Lives Lost in the Mediterranean Sea: Who is Responsible?”, Report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons (29 March 2012), para. 13.4, available online: .

International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (adopted 1 November 1974, entered into force 25 May 1980) 1184 UNTS 278 [SOLAS Convention].

International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (adopted 27 April 1979, entered into force 22 June 1985) 405 UNTS 97 [SAR Convention].

SOLAS Convention, Chapter V Regulation 33; SAR Convention, Chapter 3 para. 3.1.9.

Wouters, Kees & Den Heijer, Maarten, “The Marine I Case: A Comment”, 22 International Journal of Refugee Law 1 (2010), 2-3.

UNHCR, “All in the Same Boat: The Challenges of Mixed Migration”, available online: .

SAR Convention, Annex Chapter 1 para. 1.3.2.

SAR Convention, Annex Chapter 1 para. 1.3.2.

MSC, “Guidelines on the Treatment of Persons Rescued at Sea”, MSC Resolution 167(78) (20 May 2004), para. 6.12.

MSC, “Guidelines on the Treatment of Persons Rescued at Sea”, MSC Resolution 167(78) (20 May 2004), para. 6.17.

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (adopted 28 July 1951, entered into force 22 April 1954) 189 UNTS 137 [Refugee Convention]. Article 33 of the Refugee Convention states that: “No Contracting State shall expel or return (refouler) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” This principle is not only applicable to refugees but also to all asylum-seekers. See for example: Bethlehem, Daniel & Lauterpacht, Elihu, “The scope and content of the principle of non-refoulement: Opinion”, in Feller, Erika, Türk, Volker & Nicholson, Frances (Eds.), Refugee Protection in International Law: UNHCR's Global Consultations on International Protection (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 116-118; UNHCR, “The Protection of Asylum-Seekers and Refugees Rescued at Sea’, in Aleinikoff, Alexander T. & Chetail, Vincent (Eds.), Migration and International Legal Norms (The Hague: Asser Press, 2003).

MSC, “Guidelines on the Treatment of Persons Rescued at Sea”, MSC Resolution 167(78) (20 May 2004), para. 2.5.

MSC, “Guidelines on the Treatment of Persons Rescued at Sea”, MSC Resolution 167(78) (20 May 2004), para. 6.13.

See for example: O’Brian, Killian S., “Refugees on the High Seas: International Refugee Law Solutions to a Law of the Sea Problem”, 3 Goettingen Journal of International Law 715 (2011), 723-725.

IMO, “Status of multilateral conventions and instruments in respect of which the International Maritime Organization or its Secretary-General performs depositary or other functions” (30 November 2012), available online: < http://www.imo.org/about/conventions/statusofconventions/documents/status%20-%202012.pdf>.

Klepp, Silja, “A Double Bind: Malta and the Rescue of Unwanted Migrants at Sea, A Legal Anthropological Perspective on the Humanitarian Law of the Sea”, 23 International Journal of Refugee Law 538 (2011), 549.

Sea-Web, “Tanker in Limbo after Rescuing 102 Migrants” (6 August 2013), available online: .

European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (adopted 4 November 1950, entered into force 3 September 1953) 213 UNTS 222 [ECHR].

ECtHR, Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy, 23 February 2012, Appl. No. 27765/09 (2012).

LOSC, Art. 98(2); SAR Convention, Annex Chapter 2 para. 2.1.1.

SAR Convention, Annex Chapter 2 para. 2.1.3.

SAR Convention, Annex Chapter 2 para. 2.1.4.

SAR Convention, Annex Chapter 2 para. 2.1.7.

SAR Convention, Annex Chapter 2 para. 2.4.

IMO/ICAO, “International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual”, London/Montreal (2003). For an extensive discussion on the IMO-ICAO search and rescue regions and the IAMSAR Manual see: Vasilogeorgi, Isavella Maria, “Delimitation of IMO-ICAO Search and Rescue regions – A Case of Jurisdictional Compilation and Complication”, 36 Annals of Air and Space Law 251 (2011), 251-278.

SAR Convention, Chapter 3.

Trevisanut, Seline, “Search and Rescue Operations in the Mediterranean: Factor for Cooperation or Conflict?”, 25 International Journal of Marine & Coastal Law 523 (2010), 528-529.

IMO, “Global SAR Plan Containing Information on the Current Availability of SAR Services”, IMO Doc. SAR.8/Circ.1/Corr.3 (20 October 2005), Annex 4, 7.

BBC, “Italy takes in stranded migrants” (20 April 2009), available online: ; Times of Malta, “Migrants standoff: PM insists Malta did its duty” (20 April 2009), available online: .

LEG, “Report of the Legal Committee on the work of its ninety-eight session”, IMO Doc. LEG 98/14 (18 April 2011), para. 13.25 and Annex 9.

UNHCR, “UNHCR Thanks Italian Navy for Rescuing Boat in Distress Packed with Refugees from Libya”, Briefing Notes (11 November 2011), available online: .

Times of Malta, “UNHCR Comments Give the Wrong Impression – AFM” (14 November 2011), available online: .

Guilfoyle, Douglas, “The Challenges in Fighting Piracy”, in van Ginkel, Bibi & van der Putten, Frans-Paul (Eds.), The International Response to Somali Piracy (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2010), 130.

Delbrück, Jost, “The International Obligation to Cooperate – An Empty Shell or a Hard Law Principle of International Law? – A Critical Look at a Much Debated Paradigm of Modern International Law”, in Hestermeyer, Holger P. et al. (Eds.) Coexistence, Cooperation and Solidarity – Liber Amicorum Rüdiger Wolfrum (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012), 13-14; Pinto, Christopher W., “The Duty of Co-operation and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”, in Bos, Adriaan & Siblesz, Hugo (Eds.), Realism in Law-Making – Essays on International Law in Honour of Willem Riphagen (Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1986), 1337-138.

Schreuer, Christoph H., “State Sovereignty and the Duty of States to Cooperate – Two Incompatible Notions?”, in Delbrück, Jost (Ed.), International Law of Cooperation and State Sovereignty: Proceedings of an International Symposium of the Kiel Walther Schücking Institute of International Law (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2002), 177.

United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (adopted 20 December 1988, entered into force 11 November 1990), 95 UNTS 1582 [Drugs Convention], Art. 17(1).

Interdiction Principles for the Proliferation of Security Initiative (adopted 4 September 2003), available online: .

Delbrück, Jost, “The International Obligation to Cooperate – An Empty Shell or a Hard Law Principle of International Law? – A Critical Look at a Much Debated Paradigm of Modern International Law”, in Hestermeyer, Holger P. et al. (Eds.) Coexistence, Cooperation and Solidarity – Liber Amicorum Rüdiger Wolfrum (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012), 15.

FAL, “Address of the Secretary-General at the Opening of the Thirty-Seventh Session of the Facilitation Committee”, IMO Doc. FAL 37/INF. 5 (5 September 2011), 3-4.

COMSAR, “Report to the Maritime Safety Committee”, IMO Doc. COMSAR 14/17 (22 March 2010), paras. 10.1-10.26.

MSC, “Report of the Maritime Safety Committee on its eighty-seventh session”, IMO Doc. MSC 87/26 (25 May 2010), para. 14.18.

LEG, “Report of the Legal Committee on the work of its ninety-eight session”, IMO Doc. LEG 98/14 (18 April 2011), para. 13.25.

LEG, “Report of the Legal Committee on the work of its ninety-eight session”, IMO Doc. LEG 98/14 (18 April 2011), para. 13.25.

FAL, “Address of the Secretary-General at the Opening of the Thirty-Seventh Session of the Facilitation Committee”, IMO Doc. FAL 37/INF. 5 (5 September 2011), 3-4.

McNair, Arnold D., The Law of Treaties (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961), 15; Hollis, Duncan B., The Oxford Guide to Treaties (Oxford: Oxford Univesity Press, 2012), 46 et seq. See also: ICJ, Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain, Qatar v. Bahrain, 1 July1994, ICJ Reports 112 (1994), para. 27, on what constitutes a binding agreement.

COMSAR, “Report to the Maritime Safety Committee”, IMO Doc. COMSAR 16/17 (23 March 2012), para. 10.3.

COMSAR, “Report to the Maritime Safety Committee”, IMO Doc. COMSAR 16/17 (23 March 2012), para. 10.4.

Betts illustrates this by giving the example of the soft law framework for IDP’s. Betts, Alexander, “Towards a ‘Soft Law’ Framework for the Protection of Vulnerable Irregular Migrants”, 22 International Journal of Refugee Law 209 (2010), 224-225.

Barnes, Richard A., “The International Law of the Sea and Migration Control”, in Ryan, Bernard & Mitsilegas, Valsamis (Eds.), Extraterritorial Immigration Control (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2010), 113-114.

Council Decision (EU) No. 2010/252 of 26 April 2010 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of the operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, OJ L 111/20 of 4 May 2010.

Council Decision (EU) No. 2010/252 of 26 April 2010 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code as regards the surveillance of the sea external borders in the context of the operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders, OJ L 111/20 of 4 May 2010, Annex Part II para. 2.1.

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing rules for the surveillance of the external sea borders in the context of operational cooperation coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Members States of the European Union, COM (2013) 197 final.

Council of the European Union, Mediterranean Position Paper of 10 October 2013, 2013/0106 (COD).

Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on Strengthened Practical Cooperation – New Structures, New Approaches: Improving the Quality of Decision Making in the Common European Asylum System, COM (2006) 67 final.

For information on the European Union Satellite Centre see: .

PACE, “Lives Lost in the Mediterranean Sea: Who is Responsible?”, Report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons (29 March 2012), Explanatory Memorandum para. 141-143, available online: .

Malta Today, “AFM ‘interested’ in EU-sponsored drones for migrant surveillance at sea” (29 July 2012), available online: .

Frontex, “Programme of Work 2012” (2012), 105, available online: .

Los Angeles Times, “U.S. plans more drone flights over Caribbean” (23 June 2012), available online: .

European Commission Proposal of 12 December 2011 for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Establishing the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR), COM (2011) 873 final. This proposal is currently being considered by the European Parliament.

European Commission Proposal of 12 December 2011 for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Establishing the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR), COM (2011) 873 final, Article 1.

Human Rights Watch, “Hidden Emergency – Migrant Deaths in the Mediterranean” (August 2012), 11, available online: .

HAYES, Ben & VERMEULEN, Mathias, “Borderline – The EU’s New Border Surveillance Initiatives”, Heinrich Böll Foundation (June 2012), 74-76, available online: .

LIBE, Draft Report on the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) by Rapporteur Jan Mulder, COD (2011) 0427; Meijers Committee – Dutch Standing committee of experts in international immigration, refugee and criminal law, “Note on the proposal for a Regulation establishing the European Border Surveillance” (12 September 2012), available online: .

Council Regulation (EC) No. 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national, OJ L 50 of 25 February 2003.

De Blouw, Nicholas, “Drowning Policies: A Proposal to Modify the Dublin Agreement and Reduce Human Rights Abuses in the Mediterranean”, 40 California Western International Law Journal 335 (2010), 368.

UNHCR, “EUREMA (2010-2011) – A pilot project for intra-EU re-allocation of beneficiaries of protection from Malta”, Presentation at the Expert Meeting on Refugee and Asylum Seekers in Distress at Sea, Djibouti (8-10 November 2011), available online: .