The Civil Fleet Podcast

We speak with Silvia from the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, or PICUM.   She tells us about a report she wrote for PICUM on the criminalisation and non-judicial harassment of people-on-the-move and activists working in solidarity with them in Europe last year.    ---Get in touch---   Twitter: @FleetCivil [https://x.com/FleetCivil]   Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social [https://kolektiva.social/@civilfleet]   Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/thecivilfleet.bsky.social]   Instagram: thecivilfleet [https://www.instagram.com/thecivilfleet/]   info@civilfleet.com   civilfleet.com [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/]   --- Show notes ---   For more on PICUM, see: picum.org [https://picum.org]   You can read the PICUM report talked about in this episode here: https://picum.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Criminalisation-of-migration-and-solidarity-in-the-EU-2024-report.pdf  [https://picum.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Criminalisation-of-migration-and-solidarity-in-the-EU-2024-report.pdf]   Follow PICUM on social media:   Bluesky: @picumofficial.bsky.social‬ [https://bsky.app/profile/picumofficial.bsky.social]   Twitter: @picum_ngo [https://x.com/picum_ngo] Instagram: picum_ngo [https://www.instagram.com/picum_ngo/] Silvia mentioned former Green Party MEP Majid Majid. For more on him, see here: magicmagid.com [https://magicmagid.com]   Ben mentions migrants rights campaigner Zoe Gardner. See episodes 73 and 38 of The Civil Fleet Podcast to hear from her.    Read this report from the Irish Times on the anti-migrant protests blighting Ireland recently; https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2025/04/26/anti-immigration-protest-marking-easter-rising-gathers-crowds-in-dublin/ [https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2025/04/26/anti-immigration-protest-marking-easter-rising-gathers-crowds-in-dublin/]    Ben mentions previous episodes of The Civil Fleet Podcast with people-on-the-move who have been criminalised in Greece, Italy and Malta. Here are some of the episodes:   Episode 56 focuses on the Homayoun Sabetara case   Episode 53 features Nadia, a Lebanese refugee whose husband was accused of smuggling   Hanad Abdi Mohammad, a Somalian refugee who was sentenced to 142 years behind bars for supposedly captaining a boat across the Aegean, talks to us in episode 35   Check out episode 29 to hear from South Sudanese human rights campaigner Yambio David Oliver   Listen to episode 37 to hear about the El Hiblu 3   Silvia mentions No Name Kitchen. For more on them, see episodes: 63, 59, 58, 51, 41 and 6   For more on the Iuventa case, listen to episodes 54, 24, and 2   Silvia mention Francesca Cancellaro. Check out episode 36 to hear from here, and the Iuventa case   Read this for more on Italy's detention of the refugee rescue ship Nadir: resqship.org/en/statement-piantedosi [https://resqship.org/en/statement-piantedosi]   Ben makes reference to the British government banning a non-violent protest group banned by the British government. For more on that, see here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/the-civil-fleet-podcast-stands-with-palestine-action/ [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/the-civil-fleet-podcast-stands-with-palestine-action/]    For more on the Kinsa case, see kinsa-case.eu/the-case-kinsa [https://kinsa-case.eu/the-case-kinsa]

In this episode, migrants rights campaigner Zoe Gardner tells us why the UK Home Office should be dismantled.    In a report she recently wrote for the Green Party, Zoe says the controversial department should be split up into two new ministries.    We talk about the Home Office's acts of cruelty to migrants, refugees and people on the move, and how government policy of housing asylum seekers in unfit accommodation has created a billionaire.    ---Get in touch---   Twitter: @FleetCivil [https://x.com/FleetCivil]   Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social [https://kolektiva.social/@civilfleet]   Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/thecivilfleet.bsky.social]   Instagram: thecivilfleet [https://www.instagram.com/thecivilfleet/]   info@civilfleet.com   civilfleet.com [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/]   --- Show notes ---   You can follow Zoe on Twitter here: @ZoeJardiniere [https://twitter.com/ZoeJardiniere]   And on Bluesky here: @zoejardiniere.bsky.social‬ [https://bsky.app/profile/zoejardiniere.bsky.social]   Read the report, No Way Home? It is time to remove management of immigration from the Home Office here: https://carladenyer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/no-way-home-web.pdf [https://carladenyer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/no-way-home-web.pdf]   Zoe Gardner was last on The Civil Fleet Podcast in 2023. We spoke about UK's Illegal Migration Bill. Check out episode 38 for that   For more on the Windrush Scandal, see episode 39 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with filmmaker Sonita Gale   For more on the government removing the right to claim British citizenship from people who cross the Channel in small boats, see here: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d5wj9l8e2o [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d5wj9l8e2o]    For more on the previous British government's plans to deport people to Rwanda, see episodes 62, 57, 49, 40, 38, 32, and 25   For more on Clearsprings Ready Homes, check out episode 40 with Corporate Watch.    And read this story on the numbers of asylum seekers dying in Britain's Home Office Accommodation: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2024/04/30/at-least-40-people-died-in-home-office-asylum-seeker-accommodation-in-2023/ [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2024/04/30/at-least-40-people-died-in-home-office-asylum-seeker-accommodation-in-2023/]   Here's the book Zoe recommended, called Wreckonomics: Why it's time to end the war on everything. You can find that here: http://rubenandersson.com/wreckonomics [http://rubenandersson.com/wreckonomics]. (Please don't buy it, or anything else, from Amazon)   Check out episode 49 to hear an interview with Paul O'Connor, then senior national officer at the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union   For more on the situation in Greece, check out episodes: 68, 60, 56, 53, 52, 50, 35, 34, 28, 26, 18, 9 and 4

In this episode, we speak with academic Cetta and foreign policy analyst Daniel about the Malta Migration Archive.    We discuss the Maltese government's refusal to save refugee lives in its own search-and-rescue zone, how it ignores civilian rescue ships, pressurises commercial ships to not rescue refugees, and how it organises pushbacks with the so-called Libyan coastguards.    Cetta and Daniel tell us how the Malta Migration Archive maps all of this, and why it is so important to expose and combat the Maltese government's silence.    ---Get in touch---   Twitter: @FleetCivil [https://x.com/FleetCivil]   Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social [https://kolektiva.social/@civilfleet]   Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/thecivilfleet.bsky.social]   Instagram: thecivilfleet [https://www.instagram.com/thecivilfleet/]   info@civilfleet.com   civilfleet.com [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/]   --- Show notes ---   Check out the Malta Migration Archive here: maltamigrationarchive.org [https://maltamigrationarchive.org]   Follow them on Blue Sky on @maltamigrationarchive.org‬ [https://bsky.app/profile/maltamigrationarchive.org]   And on Twitter on @MigrationMalta [https://x.com/MigrationMalta] Cetta mentions the El Hiblu 3 – three young men who Malta arrested on terrorism charges after they helped prevent a push back to Libya. For more on that, check out episode 37 of The Civil Fleet Podcast   Daniel mentions the rescue organisation Mission Lifeline. For more on them, see here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Mission-Lifeline [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Mission-Lifeline]   Check out episodes 48, 5 and 3 for more on Alarm Phone.   Episodes 70, 65, 43, 22, 7 and 1 feature interviews with Sea-Watch activists   Cetta mentions the Tuna-pen Incident. For more on that, see here: https://timesofmalta.com/article/international-shock-over-tuna-pen-incident.16311 [https://timesofmalta.com/article/international-shock-over-tuna-pen-incident.16311]   She also mentions the Civil Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (CMRCC). Check them out here: https://civilmrcc.eu/ [https://civilmrcc.eu/]   Episodes 65 and 1 are focused on Sea-Watch's reconnaissance planes Seabird. Have a listen when you can.    Doctors Without Borders (MSF) get mention in the episode, and they're the focus of episodes 67, 21 and 14.    Listen to episodes 47 and 18 to hear more about how commercial shipping has been affected by Malta's refusal to take in people on the move.    Ben mentions the Dublin Agreement. Check out this explainer video by The Guardian newspaper for more on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooecJWPcAY&t=28s&ab_channel=TheGuardian [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooecJWPcAY&t=28s&ab_channel=TheGuardian]   Ben also mentions Doro, and the book about him. You can buy the book here: unbound.com/books/doro/ [https://unbound.com/books/doro/]   Listen to episode 43 for an interview with co-author and Sea-Watch activist Brendan Woodhouse.    Ben suggests that governments have never really respected international law. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXtgq0Nhsc&ab_channel=Chomsky%27sPhilosophy [ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXtgq0Nhsc&ab_channel=Chomsky%27sPhilosophy]   David Yambio, South Sudanese human rights activist and founder of Refugees in Libya, is interviewed in episode 29.

In this episode, we speak with medical doctors Hannah and James about their latest missions on the Nadir, a sailing boat operated by ResQship.   Hannah tells us about a rescue in May, when the crew found a boat carrying over 60 people, including two dead children. The people they rescued had been at sea for four days with no water.    James tells us about the Nadir's last rescue in June. After bringing 112 people to safety in Lampedusa, the Italian authorities decided to block the ship from leaving port.    ---Get in touch---   Twitter: @FleetCivil [https://x.com/FleetCivil]   Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social [https://kolektiva.social/@civilfleet]   Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/thecivilfleet.bsky.social]   Instagram: thecivilfleet [https://www.instagram.com/thecivilfleet/]   info@civilfleet.com   civilfleet.com [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/] --- Show notes --- For more on ResQship, see: resqship.org/en [https://resqship.org/en] Follow them on: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/resqship/] and Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/resqship.bsky.social] And, listen to episode 27 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Nadir Read The Civil Fleet's coverage of the Nadir, here: bit.ly/39SnJjy [https://bit.ly/39SnJjy] Ben mentions a report by Sea-Watch on how the EU could restart state-led refugee rescues. Read that here: https://sea-watch.org/en/mare-solidale/ [https://sea-watch.org/en/mare-solidale/] For more on the Piantedosi Decree, read this: https://www.sosmediterranee.org/consequence-of-the-piantedosi-decree/  [https://www.sosmediterranee.org/consequence-of-the-piantedosi-decree/] Also, listen to episodes 70, 69, 68 and 65 For more on the detention of the Sea-Eye 5, see here: https://sea-eye.org/en/after-rescuing-65-people-sea-eye-5-unlawfully-detained-in-sicily/ [https://sea-eye.org/en/after-rescuing-65-people-sea-eye-5-unlawfully-detained-in-sicily/] Listen to episode 10 for more on Sea-Eye.  James mentions the Flussi Decree. Read about that here: https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/60346/italys-new-flows-decree-stricter-controls-and-expanded-work-visas-for-migrants  [https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/60346/italys-new-flows-decree-stricter-controls-and-expanded-work-visas-for-migrants]

In this episode, Sea-Watch's search-and-rescue coordinator Hendrik tells us about the rescue of 32 people stranded on a gas rig in central Mediterranean in March.   ---Get in touch---   Twitter: @FleetCivil [https://x.com/FleetCivil]   Mastodon: @civilfleet@kolektiva.social [https://kolektiva.social/@civilfleet]   Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/thecivilfleet.bsky.social]   Instagram: thecivilfleet [https://www.instagram.com/thecivilfleet/]   info@civilfleet.com   civilfleet.com [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/] --- Show notes ---   For more on Sea-Watch, visit: sea-watch.org/en [https://sea-watch.org/en]   Follow Sea-Watch on BlueSky: @en.sea-watch.org [https://bsky.app/profile/en.sea-watch.org] Instagram: seawatchcrew   Also, check out episodes 65, 43, 22, 7 and 1 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Sea-Watch.   For more on the Miskar Platform rescue, see here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/03/04/sea-watch-rescues-32-people-left-stranded-on-a-mediterranean-gas-rig/  [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/03/04/sea-watch-rescues-32-people-left-stranded-on-a-mediterranean-gas-rig/]   You can watch the 2020 YouTube interview I did with Hendrik and Dariush here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kS3OX922Vs&t=1874s&ab_channel=BenCowles [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kS3OX922Vs&t=1874s&ab_channel=BenCowles] (Check out my Covid beard!)   For more about the Iuventa, check out episodes: 54, 36, 24, and 2.    You can read more about the Iuventa, here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Iuventa/ [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Iuventa/]   Hendrik mentions the RNLI – the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a lifeboat charity based in the UK.    He also mentions the Humanitarian Pilot Project. You can find out more about them here: https://www.hpi.swiss [https://www.hpi.swiss]   The Greek coastguards are fascists? • Read this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0vv717yvpeo [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0vv717yvpeo], this: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/06/04/masked-men-attack-refugee-dinghy-off-the-coast-of-greece-as-coastguard-fails-to-launch-rescue/ [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/06/04/masked-men-attack-refugee-dinghy-off-the-coast-of-greece-as-coastguard-fails-to-launch-rescue/] this https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2021/02/11/close-to-10000-people-pushed-back-to-turkey-by-greek-coastguard-and-frontex-activists-allege/ [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2021/02/11/close-to-10000-people-pushed-back-to-turkey-by-greek-coastguard-and-frontex-activists-allege/] and Google Greek Coastguards.    • See here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Greece/ [https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Greece/]   • Check out episodes 68, 60, 56, 53, 52, 50, 41, 35, 28, 26, 24, 23, 22, 18, 12, 9, and 4