Background-Information about the Alarm Phone
More detailed background information you find in particular on the Website of the Alarm Phone itself:
After Two Months in Operation: Insights into the Watch The Med Alarm Phone
December 2014
On the 10th of October 2014, the Watch The Med Alarm Phone went live. It is operated by a transnational network of activist and migrant groups, located in various settings on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea. The hotline is run by multilingual shift teams day and night, 24/7. The Alarm Phone initiative has gained the support of various migrant communities, individual members of civil society, as well as human rights activists and organisations. While not able to physically intervene itself, with no available boats that could carry out rescue operations, it offers advice and raises alarm when people in immediate distress are not promptly rescued or even pushed-back by European border authorities.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): 10 Questions posed to the Watch The Med Alarm Phone Project
October 2014
1. What is the project able to do if it cannot organise rescue operations itself?
The Alarm Phone offers the affected boat-people a second option to make their SOS noticeable. The alarm documents and mobilises in real-time. In this way, pressure to rescue is built-up, wherever possible. Additionally, in this way push-backs of refugees and migrants could be stopped.
2. What will be done practically if coast guards do not launch rescue operations despite the SOS and the alarm?
