Maritime Sar Systems in the EU: Convergence and Co-optation into the Anti-Immigration Border

Luna Vives, Arnaud Banos, Camille Martel, Elizabeth Rose Hessek and Kira Williams

Journal of Borderlands Studies, 2025, vol. 40, issue 3, 669-690

Abstract: Research focusing on maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in contexts of migration typically focuses on single-country studies, rarely engaging with the development of regional trends. This paper centers on five maritime areas along the southern EU border (Eastern Mediterranean, Central Mediterranean, Western Mediterranean, Canary Islands) and the Dover Strait to examine the transformation of maritime SAR in Europe over the last decade. Our analysis draws from secondary sources to understand trends in these five major sea routes to and out of the EU. We conclude that ways of doing maritime SAR in the region are converging and that the emerging approach to maritime SAR is defined by its co-optation into the anti-immigration border apparatus, its militarization and the externalization of SAR responsibilities to countries of origin and transit. This convergence of SAR policy is evident yet still incomplete and fragmented, with each country exhibiting distinct institutional arrangements.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2024.2356775

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