At a press conference in Regensburg on Tuesday morning, the Sea-Eye sea rescue organization announced its intention to purchase a new rescue ship and send it into action this year. The new ship is to bear the name GHALIB KURDI and will commemorate the older brother of Alan Kurdi, who also drowned and whose picture became a symbol of the refugee crisis in 2015. The family of the deceased children, who came from Kobanê, expressly supports the cause of Sea-Eye and intends to become even more involved in the sea rescue organization in the future. "We could not save our own family. Let us save the others," said Tima Kurdi, an aunt of Alan and Ghalib, at the press conference.

Since November 2019, the Italian Coast Guard has been involving Sea-Eye in technical discussions. Italian officials criticize that the ship does not have sufficient sewage and waste disposal capacities on board. The fact that German technical authorities strongly disagreed with them did not help. Sea-Eye had to file a complaint with the administrative court in Palermo in August 2020. Sea-Eye expects a ruling in the coming weeks.

"We realized already in November 2019 that Italy would increasingly try to argue in this direction. Since February, a project team has been working with foresight on the task of finding a larger ship that meets all requirements. Regardless of whether these are justified or not, we want to save people from drowning. This is only possible when our ships are on the water. That's why we need GHALIB KURDI," said Gorden Isler, Chairman of Sea-Eye, about the background.

The general meeting of the Regensburg Sea Rescuers already gave the green light at a meeting in Erfurt in June and instructed the board to implement the plans presented. In the meantime Sea-Eye has selected a ship and agreed on a purchase price with a German shipowner. The financing of the purchase price has already been promised by supporters. These include the Catholic Church.

Currently, the shipyard plan for equipping the ship is being prepared and the contracts for the transfer of ownership are being worked out. The ship will be presented to the public after the transfer of ownership. At the same time Sea-Eye will introduce new partner organizations that will accompany the missions in the future. "The increasing difficulties are likely to be difficult for individual organizations to cope with. We are therefore talking with various experienced organizations about sharing tasks and responsibilities," continued Isler.

Fifth anniversary of the death of Alan, Ghalib and Rehanna Kurdi

September 2, 2020 marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi. The picture of the drowned two-year-old boy gained sad fame. Meanwhile, hardly any attention was paid to the fact that the lifeless body of the two years older brother Ghalib was found a few hundred meters away next to the also drowned mother Rehanna. In an interview father Abdullah Kurdi later quoted the last words of his son Ghalib: "Don't be afraid, father.”

Abdullah's sister Tima Kurdi has written down the history of the family. Her book "The Boy on the Beach" will be published in German bookstores in October. Since the family tragedy, she uses her voice to stand up for the rights of refugees and people seeking protection.

In the past five years, the EU member states have continued to focus on isolation and deterrence. In recent years, for example, some 20,000 more people drowned in the Mediterranean Sea. Armed Libyan militias now serve the EU as bouncers and the living conditions in the refugee camps on the Greek islands can only be described as inhuman and cruel.

Home port Regensburg

The home port of the new rescue ship will be the city of Regensburg. The Sea-Eye association was founded in October 2015 by Michael Buschheuer and friends in Regensburg. In addition, Regensburg was the first city in Bavaria to declare itself a "Safe Harbor" within the framework of the Sea Bridge Alliance and the Potsdam Declaration.

"Many people from the African continent still make their way to Europe by sea in the hope of escaping war, terror, hunger and poverty. Rescue organizations such as the Sea-Eye, which is based in Regensburg, Germany, perform an important humanitarian task. I am very pleased that with GHALIB KURDI the fourth ship of the organization is being prepared for deployment and I am proud of its home port Regensburg", said the mayor of Regensburg, Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer, who also attended the press conference.

To set a further example, the city agreed to the temporary renaming of two locations. Starting on September 3, the "Iron Bridge" will bear the name "Michael Buschheuer Bridge" for three months and the "Marc-Aurel-Bank" will be renamed "Alan and-Ghalib Kurdi Harbor". The idea came from artist Dušan Zahoranský.