Visual Representations of Refugees in German Media 2010 - 2020
By: Cassidy Chreene Whittle, M.S. GMC - German
Advisors: Dr. Britta Kallin, Associate Professor of German, and
Dr. Richard Utz, Chair and Professor, Literature, Media, and Communication
It's a matter of life and death: The Aquarius during the rescue operation last weekend
taz.de/ May 16, 2018 / photo by Anthony Jean of the SOS Mediterranee
This image captioned "Es geht um Leben und Tod: Die Aquarius bei der Rettungsaktion am vergangenen Wochenende" (It's a matter of life and death: The Aquarius during the rescue operation last weekend) was taken by a member of the SOS Mediterranee on board the Aquarius during a rescue mission. According to their website, the SOS Mediterranee is "a European, maritime and humanitarian organization for the rescue of shipwrecked people in the Mediterranean Sea." It was founded by citizens in May 2015 in response to the large numbers of refugees dying in the Mediterranean and the inaction of the European Union to put an end to it. The image accompanies an article describing the unpredictable turn of events that occurred during an otherwise routine rescue mission of 73 refugees off the coast of Italy published by taz.de on May 16, 2018.
In the article, members of the crew explain how they were ordered by the Italian Coast Guard to dock in Sicily after bringing 73 nearly-drowned rescues on board, despite the fact that their ship's capacity is nearly 500 and they would typically stay out longer on a day where the weather is nice to rescue additional refugees until their ship was full. After being delayed at the port for a full day, the crew members were not allowed to leave Sicily on suspicion of a "criminal organization that favors illegal immigration". Through cooperation with the Italian control center, the Aquarius crew was able to save themselves some trouble.
Although this photograph was taken by a member of the Aquarius crew who had direct contact with the refugees aboard the ship that day, the article does not mention the refugees, how they handled being stuck at the port an additional day after their treacherous journey, or what happened to them when the crew was detained and if they were allowed to stay in Italy. While the SOS Mediterranee's mission is to help the shipwrecked people in the Mediterranean, this photo of a crowded boat full of mostly dark-skinned men is merely another installation in the unending series of similarly-styled photographs which indicate to the viewer some sort of invasion coming.