On 20 August 2013, SEA BIRD 2 – a civilian reconnaissance aircraft from Sea-Watch e.V., a non-profit civil search and rescue organisation – picks up a distress call from the Frontex aircraft Eagle 2. A boat with 70 people on board had been spotted – refugees on their way to Europe in search of a safe haven.
Refugees have a right to a safe haven under the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Accidents at sea, illegal repatriations (known as “pushbacks”) as well as and death and despair are occurring at the EU’s external borders in the Mediterranean on a daily basis. The surveillance airplanes of Frontex have been proven to regularly and illegally assist in these pushbacks, violating the human rights of people on the move. The rise of right-wing parties in Europe is also making it even more difficult for civil organisations to perform their much-needed work. Since 2014, almost 30,000 people have died fleeing across the Mediterranean and many more are missing. This makes the Mediterranean the most dangerous refugee route in the world. One year on and the whereabouts of the 70 individuals, including women and children, is still unknown.
The text is a direct quote from a recording of a desperate pilot monitoring the Mediterranean route and calling for assistance – not a MAY DAY call, as the pilot himself is not affected, but a MAY DAY RELAY – he is calling for help on behalf of others.
The question at the end of the text “Any assets ... there to assist?” can therefore be seen as a call to all of us, no matter where we stand politically.
What do we want to do, Europe’s civil society, to prevent deaths in the Mediterranean?
And where are the limits of our empathy towards this humanitarian disaster that has been unfolding on our borders for years?
With this billboard I asked these questions in the center of the city, by a playful blending of realities - a boat with fugitives moving across Lenbachplatz and mingling with the magnificent buildings in the background. A distress call that also appears in our skies, a call to action. All of this has a performative effect, interrupting our everyday life, our reality, just a little bit.
You can listen to the recording of the radio emergency call on this link.
