Human Rights Supporters Rally to Protect Seafarers

Human Rights at Sea gains traction. 

Human Rights Supporters Rally to Protect Seafarers

The Human Rights at Sea international maritime initiative led by English barrister David Hammond is gaining momentum as partner associations, supporting entities and correspondents from around the world continue to join forces to address the issue of human rights abuses at sea.

Hammond leads the maritime practice of the Chambers of Anthony Berry QC, 9 Bedford Row in London, and he established the private not-for-profit venture Human Rights at Sea (HRAS) in April this year based on his personal experiences as a former seafarer and his work in Somalia as the first head lawyer for the European Union’s NESTOR counter-piracy program in 2012. There he conceived and established the fledgling NESTOR Legal Advisory Program across five East African states.

His mission is to further build the legal, political and humanitarian foundations needed to ensure that human rights apply at sea as equally as they do on land and that such foundations are explicitly articulated, not simply implied. Not only concerned with the protection of professional seafarers, he is fighting to stop slavery and trafficking in the fishing industries, providing protections for indigenous seafarers not covered by the MLC 2006, as well as constantly highlighting the mistreatment of refugees at sea.

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Source: maritime-executive.com