United4Rescue is a non-profit, independent association that supports civilian sea rescue in the Mediterranean and helps to save lives. With the help of donations, we have already deployed four rescue ships and made several rescue missions possible.

At the same time, United4Rescue is a broad alliance of hundreds of organisations united by the conviction that people should not be left to drown. The alliance publicly advocates for sea rescue and safe escape routes and represents four demands.

United4Rescue provides cross-organisational and unbureaucratic assistance to civilian sea rescue operations, especially where there is an acute lack of funds for rescue missions. For example, for the purchase and conversion of rescue ships, for equipment or deployment costs. We also raise public awareness of the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and make the broad social support for sea rescue in the Mediterranean visible.

United4Rescue is financed almost exclusively by donations from private individuals and organisations. In individual cases, we also receive donations or project-based funding from local authorities, social lotteries and church organisations.

Thousands of people drown in the Mediterranean every year, even though it is the state's duty to rescue people in distress at sea. However, the member states of the European Union are focussing on isolation. We do not want to stand idly by and watch this policy and the resulting humanitarian catastrophe. That is why we support civilian sea rescue organisations that take action and save lives in the absence of state sea rescue. Because the right to life is a human right.

No. There are already very good rescue organisations. United4Rescue has therefore decided to support sea rescue as a whole. Time and again, rescue organisations lack the funds to go on missions. United4Rescue therefore enables civil sea rescue without operating rescue ships itself.

Our alliance ships are vessels whose purchase we have fully or partially enabled. They are operated by our partner organisations. We remain connected to our alliance ships even after the purchase. The many donors and alliance partners of United4Rescue stand behind the ship – even if it is arrested or the crew is criminalised or attacked.

United4Rescue supports initiatives and organisations that are active in civil sea rescue or help people whose lives are in danger while fleeing. Applications for funding can be submitted at any time, there are no fixed application deadlines. A funding decision is made about eight weeks after the application is submitted.

An application should comply with the funding criteria and clearly describe what funding is needed for and how the funding is made up. United4Rescue only provides funding for specific projects and as shortfall funding. It is important that adequate own or third-party funds are contributed to projects. If you are unsure whether your project is eligible for funding, please feel free to contact

Alliance partnership means that an organisation supports civilian sea rescue ideally and shares our four demands. In return, they appear on the United4Rescue website with their logo and statement. The alliance partnership is not connected with any financial obligations! However, we are happy about every donation raised by alliance partners.

Welcome aboard! The more we become, the louder and more visible our alliance is. From now on, you will receive the "Schiffspost", our newsletter, regularly — about every six weeks. Follow United4Rescue also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. This way you will stay up to date on all important events at United4Rescue and in sea rescue. You can find more ways to support sea rescue here.

United4Rescue is not an evangelical or church association. The association was founded after the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) was called upon to send a rescue ship to the Mediterranean at the Protestant Church Congress 2019 in Dortmund. That is why United4Rescue is very well known in churches.
However, the alliance has long since connected the most diverse denominations and religious communities, mosque and church congregations, Diakonie and Caritas, aej and BDKJ. And even beyond that, there is an enormous variety of organisations behind it — from farms to federal associations, from kindergartens to the city of Karlsruhe.

By autumn 2023, United4Rescue had received a total of around 6.5 million euros in donations. Of this, around 4.9 million went to sea rescue and other projects to save human lives. The remaining approximately 25 percent of the donation income was spent on public relations and fundraising projects (for example, information materials), as well as on personnel costs and administration (such as rent, office supplies and bookkeeping). We make our finances transparent every year in our annual reports.

The members of United4Rescue decide on the funding of projects together with the management and employees of the head office. The framework for this is set by the statues, the four principles and the criteria for applications.

United4Rescue only supports projects after careful scrutiny if they are well planned and realistically realisable. Many members of United4Rescue have been working in the field of sea rescue for years and contribute their professional expertise to the evaluation of projects. When United4Rescue supports a project, it is also accompanied during its realisation. At the end, United4Rescue receives a project report.

With a donation to United4Rescue you help sea rescue where money is needed most urgently. For example, for the purchase and conversion of rescue vessels, for equipment or deployment costs. United4Rescue helps across organisations and unbureaucratically, but always checks the feasibility and professionalism of funding requests. So you can be sure: Your donation helps to save lives in distress at sea.

With a regular donation, whether a permanent donation or a supporting membership, you ensure that the funding of United4Rescue is predictable and secure. If you choose to become a supporting member, you will be part of our annual meeting at which we discuss the current situation in the Mediterranean and present United4Rescue's annual report.

You will receive your donation receipt in February of the following year as an annual donation receipt. We need your address for this! To save costs and the environment, we also send donation receipts by e-mail as a PDF document. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us: .

Amounts up to € 300 can also be claimed from the German tax office with this "simplified proof of donation" (German version). Simply submit this with proof of transfer, for example your bank statement.

Unfortunately, not. Donation receipts may only be issued for the person or organisation that transferred the donation. Only those who donate themselves can receive a donation receipt. Please draw attention to this if, for example, you are collecting donations in a circle of friends.

You can help us a lot by spreading the word about our cause! Talk to friends and family about civilian rescue at sea, follow us on social media or start your own fundraising campaign, e.g. in your sports club or church community. You can find more information and material here.

People have very different reasons for making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean. Many are fleeing violence, terror and hardship. Others have lost their livelihoods in their home countries, are fleeing out of desperation and lack of prospects — and hope for a better future for themselves and their families. The stories told by those rescued are very different. But all of them report that the misery on land was greater than the fear of drowning.

The Mediterranean is the most dangerous escape route in the world: according to the UN Organisation for Migration (IOM), more than 30,000 people have drowned or gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014. The number of unreported cases is probably much higher, as many boat accidents go unnoticed.

People in distress at sea must be rescued in accordance with international maritime law. The term distress at sea is used when a ship or person is threatened by serious and imminent danger and requires immediate assistance. It does not matter how this emergency situation came about.

After rescue, those seeking protection must be taken to the nearest ‘place of safety’ (POS). This is stipulated by the SOLAS Convention (‘International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea’) and the SAR Convention (‘International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue’). ‘Safe’ means that the safety and integrity of people is no longer at risk and their basic needs are met. The principle of ‘non-refoulement’ under international law also prohibits expulsions or deportations to dangerous countries. Bringing people back into the danger from which they fled is therefore illegal.

No North African country currently fulfils the requirements of a safe haven. In Libya, people are tortured, raped, abused and enslaved in detention centres. These terrible conditions have been documented by Médecins Sans Frontières, among others. In February 2024, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that boat refugees must not be brought back to Libya.

In Tunisia, there has been a massive increase in racist attacks, particularly against people from Central and West African countries, which is why Tunisiacannot be considered a safe place either.

Returning people to North Africa would also deprive them of the opportunity to apply for asylum. However, the right to asylum is a fundamental European right. Morocco - just like Tunisia — does not have an asylum system and is therefore not a safe place either.

Every ship is obliged to rescue people at sea, as are the coastal states. However, the large-scale Mare Nostrum search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean organised by the European Union (EU) and Italy was discontinued in 2014. In 2019, the EU also ended all rescue activities as part of Operation EUNAVFORMed-Sophia. Since then, there has no longer been a state-organised sea rescue programme in the Mediterranean. Instead, we have seen a significant tightening of migration policy legislation at national and European level in recent years, which favours isolation and deterrence.

Civilian sea rescue is being put under pressure and hindered because the member states of the European Union do not want to take in refugees. The calculation behind this is that people will not dare to make the life-threatening crossing if more and more boats sink and people drown. However, this cynical calculation does not work: The desperation of those seeking protection is so great that many would rather drown than stay in the camps in Libya, for example.

After arriving on land, the rescued people are taken into state care. They receive medical care if necessary and are placed in initial reception centres. State authorities must then decide on the legal protection or residence status in an individual asylum procedure that complies with European legal standards.

No. Boat people are fleeing war, persecution and hardship. Their situation is so bad that they accept the life-threatening journey. There is no evidence to support the claim that it is civilian rescue at sea that causes people to flee across the Mediterranean.

Civilian sea rescue has only existed since 2015, after more and more people drowned and there was a lack of state sea rescue. Civilian sea rescue is therefore a reaction to the refugee boats and the deaths in the Mediterranean — and not the other way round.

Various empirical studies, including those by Oxford University and the Migration Policy Centre, show that the presence of rescue ships is not related to the number of boats. As recently as 2023, the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) published another study that refutes the theory of the so-called pull effect. Rather, the number of crossing attempts depends on so-called push factors. The most important push factor is the political and social situation in the migrants' home countries.

The demand for safe and legal escape routes refers to the fact that no one should be criminalised and persecuted for seeking protection in another country. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to leave their country to seek protection from persecution elsewhere. But it is almost impossible to get to a place where you can apply for asylum by legal means alone. This is why people, in their distress and desperation, accept even the most dangerous escape routes or have no choice but to place themselves in the hands of criminal smuggling gangs or dubious escape helpers. This turns people's need into a business. If there were legal, safe routes, this would not be necessary.

The UN Refugee Agency provides information on the topic of sea rescue and the situation in the Mediterranean in general (https://www.uno-fluechtlingshilfe.de/hilfe-weltweit/fluechtlingsschutz/seenotrettung/) and on the situation in the Mediterranean in particular (https://www.uno-fluechtlingshilfe.de/hilfe-weltweit/mittelmeer/).

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM https://missingmigrants.iom.int/region/mediterranean) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean) provide up-to-date, reliable data on refugee movements and the number of victims.