Spaces of Exception: Health Protocols, Non-Governmental Sea Rescue, and the Border Regime

This chapter scrutinizes how health management is utilized as a securitization practice against sea rescue organizations, filling a significant literature gap, as scholarship has mostly considered the securitizing impact of health management only in relation to migrants. We focus on the Italian case since it represents a peculiarity in the EU landscape. In the Italian context, search and rescue operations constitute the first step of the hotspot operational sequence, insofar as sea rescuers must complete preliminary identification forms, conduct an initial health assessment, and communicate it to competent authorities. In such a way, sea rescue organizations are not only directly, but also indirectly securitized, by being forced to abide by health protocols that are integral to the hotspot procedures. This chapter is based on document analysis and on in-depth interviews with humanitarian workers who have been involved in landings before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.