The Sea-Watch 3: A German Perspective

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The video below is an appropriate follow-up to the previous post, which featured Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini discussing the Sea-Watch 3, a migrant-ferry vessel captained by a German woman that attempted to run the Italian blockade at the port of Lampedusa.

I’m especially impressed by the calm, objective reporting by the television reporter, as exemplified by his description of Mr. Salvini as “a loud-mouthed right-wing populist”.

Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:


Video link

The report below from Politically Incorrect (also translated by MissPiggy) analyzes the above video and asks some pertinent questions about it:

What is the current role of the German press in human trafficking?

This past Thursday, the Sea-Watch 3 invaded Italian territorial waters, contrary to an explicit ban by the country’s government. The German professional tugboat captain Carola Rackete, now in Italian custody, had taken in “42 refugees rescued from distress at sea” off the Libyan coast to present herself to the world as a noble saviour. For this she needed a port of destination (or maybe not), but all European countries had refused her up until then. You read correctly: every European country, not only naughty Italy.

So on June 27th, with a grandstanding pose in front of the camera (0:21 min) she announces that she will enter the port of Lampedusa: “I will proceed into the port. Be informed! I will proceed into the port. Over.”

That’s just what a noble person from Germany does, who wants to serve as a role model for the world. The cameras for the show were provided by NDR [German taxpayer-funded TV], which was “embedded” on the Sea-Watch with two journalists. Why were they there, and since when? Just two of several questions that the critical observer has to ask himself. The NDR journalists had reported this previously from the Sea-Watch entering the Italian port:

From reporter Jonas Schreieck:

After pictures showing the unfortunate condition of the poor “refugees” (0:33 min), Schreieck says that the mood is tense, that nearby Lampedusa is, “only a stone’s throw away”, “was a glimmer of hope for the rescued”, but alas now the police are on board. Then the presenter of the programme adds that the Italian Minister of the Interior (Salvini) is known as a “loud-mouthed right-wing populist” and gave a speech full of rage.

The second reporter Nadia Kailouili in the video from June 27 2019 (from 0:31 min) says:

“Yes, the captain went into the territorial waters of Italy yesterday. She has had rescued people on board for more than 15 days now and since then has not received any promise from a European port to take the people to safety.” Kailouili also describes the contact with the Italian authorities as a deplorable condition of the poor “refugees”.

As you can see, the establishment’s reporting is right in line with Merkel’s state doctrine, no critical questions. However, we at PI News, as a non-mainstream news blog would have, liked to have an answer to the following questions:

1.   For how long have NDR journalists been at Sea-Watch? For how long was the stay planned, how long was it actually?
2.   Were they only there as a couple or with other employees (camera, sound) on board? How many in total?
3.   What was the reason that the NDR employees went on board?
4.   Were the circumstances of the “rescue” questioned (position of the damaged boat, why it became unseaworthy, cooperation of Sea-Watch with the human trafficking mafia)? If so, when will it be reported?
5.   Is/was the NDR aware that Interior Minister Salvini would probably have allowed the refugees ashore immediately if other European countries had agreed to accept them?
6.   How did the NDR journalists get onboard (helicopter, ship)?
7.   What was the cost of the transfer of the NDR team to Italy, and from there to the ship, as well as the entire stay (approximate information)?
 

We kindly ask the NDR to answer these questions. As usual, we will publish the answer unchanged and unabridged. But since we know that transparency and openness are not the strength of the NDR, we rather expect that the NDR will not answer us. Of course, the broadcaster knows about this article, because the employees regularly read along on our website. Furthermore, with the publication of this article, we also sent an email with the link to the NDR.

In addition, we would like to ask our readers to address some of the questions to the NDR in a slightly modified form. Should you receive an answer, we will be happy to publish it at PI News.

Contact Information:

Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Lutz Marmor (Intendant)
Rothenbaumchaussee 132
20149 Hamburg
Tel. 00 49 (040) 4156 – 0
Fax 00 49 (040) 44 76 02
E-Mail: ndr@ndr.de

Video transcript:

00:00   The drama with the Sea Watch in the Mediterranean sea continues. The Captain from Kiel decided to
00:06   enter the port of Lampedusa with her 42 rescued on board despite the ban from Italy. Yesterday evening
00:15   we were able to make contact with the ship and today Carola Rackete remained determined.
00:21   “I will proceed into the port. Be informed! I will proceed into the port. Over.”
00:27   I will proceed into the port, is what she said over the radio to the authorities.
00:31   However, up until now she wasn’t able to, and on board a sense of confusion prevails,
00:37   according to Jonas Schreieck who reports to us from onboard the Sea Watch.
00:41   The mood onboard the Sea Watch is tense and cautious. We have been just a stone’s throw
00:46   from the Italian island Lampedusa the entire day. Closer than ever before.
00:51   It was a glimmer of hope especially for those who were rescued, but then the police came on board
00:57   along with the coast guard several times. They informed the captain that she is committing a crime.
01:00   She was instructed to leave Italian waters. Later this afternoon, Italian parliamentary members came
01:07   on board to support the Sea Watch crew. Since then the Italian police have been patrolling near the crew.
01:14   Those onboard are waiting to see what else might happen today.
01:20   The Italian interior minister, known as a loud-mouthed right-wing populist, released a 15-minute-long
01:26   rant over social media in which he described the Captain of the Sea Watch as a “smartass”
01:33   Who wasn’t going to, and I quote, “bust anybody’s balls”. Irrespective of the tone, the Sea Watch is
01:42   a German association and according to Salvini the Germans should take in the rescued. Salvini said if
01:46   Berlin would commit to that then he would let them immediately come ashore.
01:52   Let’s find out more from Berlin. Our correspondent from our nation’s capital is Kerstin Dausend.
01:56   Kerstin, what is federal government saying? —The government has signalled a willingness to help,
02:03   but isn’t saying anything definitive. The response we received from our inquiry with the interior ministry
02:08   was that they were in contact with all respective parties and were working on a speedy solution.
02:15   The pivotal phrase was, “There is a readiness to participate in a solution,” but the talks
02:20   are confidential, therefore I have no details. From a legal point of view, Italy would be responsible for
02:27   receiving and accepting asylum applications from refugees because they arrived in Italy first.
02:35   That is the situation. Of course Germany doesn’t want to leave Italy alone with arriving refugees, and
02:40   certainly not in a humanitarian emergency like this. In addition, there was an appeal from Brussels by the
02:47   EU Migration Commissioner responsible for all EU countries to show solidarity in accepting refugees.
02:55   Of course, as always, not all EU countries will do this. This is one of the biggest smouldering conflicts
03:01   in the European Union. However, Germany will show solidarity and will not leave the Sea Watch crew
03:09   or the captain from Kiel and above all the needy refugees alone to fend for themselves.
03:17   Well, that is very encouraging information. Kerstin Dausend live from Berlin, thank you very much.
 

8 thoughts on “The Sea-Watch 3: A German Perspective”

  1. Another perspective.
    The Sea Watch had a mere 40 or so migrants on board. Why so few?
    On previous runs it had 100 or even 200.
    The answer is they knew beforehand they would be out at sea for several weeks.
    And there is only so much food and water that can be stored on a boat like this.
    The entire confrontation was a set up. It was carefully planned by Seawatch and its masters from the start including the embedded press.

  2. Those Germans!
    Always pushing themselves into ports and places without invitation.
    Just like in 1930’s and 1940’s. 😉

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