All at Sea? Humanitarian Search and Rescue Interventions in the Central Mediterranean History/ethnography/moral philosophy

本研究旨在回答两个相互关联且日益紧迫的问题：在海上搜救行动中能否坚持中立、公正和独立的人道主义原则？最重要的是，应该坚持这些原则，还是需要重新思考这些指导思想？几十年来，人道主义原则一直指导着在紧急情况下工作的援助机构的工作，长期以来一直受到争论和辩论，尽管最近搜索和救援行动的增加对这些理论的可取性和可行性提出了更根本的问题。这个博士项目将采用跨学科的方法来探索人道主义行动的搜索和救援行动的特点和含义。首先，它将采用对以往非政府组织搜救任务的历史研究，以了解是什么使最近的干预行动与众不同。其次，它将探讨关于海上救援的伦理辩论，以揭示地中海非政府组织所采用的道德论点。第三，它将对从事搜救工作的援助机构所面临的日常困境进行民族志探索，以揭示自2015年“欧洲移民危机”高潮以来出现的普遍人道主义观点和组织辩论。

This research aims to answer two interlinked and increasingly pressing questions: Can the humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence be upheld in search and rescue operations at sea? Most importantly, should they be upheld, or does the situation call for a rethinking of these guiding philosophies? Humanitarian principles have guided the work of aid agencies working in emergency situations for decades and have long been subject to contestation and debate, although the recent rise in search and rescue operations raises more fundamental questions about the desirability and viability of these doctrines. This D.Phil project will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to explore the character and implication of search and rescue operations for humanitarian action. First, it will employ historical research into previous NGO search and rescue missions in order to understand what makes recent interventions distinctive.Second, it will explore ethical debates on maritime rescue in order to unpack the moral arguments employed by NGOs in the Mediterranean. Third, it will engage in an ethnographic exploration of the quotidian dilemmas faced by aid agencies working on search and rescue in order to uncover emic humanitarian perspectives and organisational debates that have emerged since the climax of the 'European migrant crisis' in 2015.