A ceremony to mark Catalonia's national day honored the German captain of the rescue ship "Sea-Watch 3," who helped save the lives of 40 refugees. The medal was presented by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Image: picture-alliance/Europa Press/D. Zorrakino
Advertisement
Spanish football manager and former Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola honored a German rescue ship captain for her work helping refugees in the Mediterranean.
Carola Rackete accepted a medal at the award ceremony Tuesday. "There is one thing I want to say clearly: Medals and words are not enough," she said, and pleaded instead for "concrete actions and solidarity."
Guardiola, who manages Manchester City football team, commended her actions: "A world which does not save is a world which is sinking, and our society will drown."
Germans march in solidarity with Sea-Watch
Thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Germany to support Carola Rackete and the Sea-Watch rescue group.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Bockwoldt
'Sea-Watch 3 saves lives'
3,000 people joined the solidarity rally with Sea-Watch in Germany's port city of Hamburg. The German captain of the Sea-Watch 3 rescue vessel, Carola Rackete, has been charged in Italy for docking her vessel at the port of Lampedusa despite an order from the the government banning new refugees from being allowed on Italian soil.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Bockwoldt
Local hero
Despite earning the ire of the Italian government, for many at home Rackete is a hero for saving the lives of asylum-seekers during the dangerous Mediterranean crossing. On top of criticizing Italy's anti-immigrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, Rackete has also criticized his German counterpart, Horst Seehofer.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Bockwoldt
Nationwide rallies
Demonstrations were also held in Bonn, Münster, Frankfurt, Oldenburg, Bielefeld, Bremen, and here in Cologne. About 7,000 people attended the Cologne rally in opposition to attempts from nationalist governments to close their ports to rescued migrants.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker
'Sea-bridge'
Seebrücke, or 'Sea-bridge', is the name of the organization that called Saturday's protests. "Seebrücke makes harbors safe," this banner in Cologne declares.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Becker
Protest in Seehofer's backyard
In Munich in Bavaria, the state Interior Minister Horst Seehofer used to be premier of, thousands of citizens demanded Germany support the rescue and safety of refugees. Seehofer has been one of the few in Germany's federal government to take a hard-line immigration stance in recent years.
Image: Imago Images/M. Westermann
On Merkel's doorstep
In Berlin, the demonstrators brought their protest to the doors of the federal Chancellery building. Chancellor Angela Merkel has not weighed in on the plight of Sea-Watch captain Carola Rackete, who is preparing to sue Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for slander.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Zinken
6 images1 | 6
'Desperate conditions'
The 31-year-old captain was arrested in June after she sailed with 40 migrants aboard her ship Sea-Watch 3 to the Italian island of Lampedusa. This went against the orders of then-Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
Rackete took the step because of what she described as desperate conditions on board for the migrants. Salvini was subsequently investigated for libelling Rackete.
In a tweet, Rackete said the award "is really aimed at all of the Sea-Watch crew."
Rackete was released after two days but the investigation is ongoing. She said that she is not worried about the outcome as she knows that her actions were correct.
The founder of the Spanish aid organization Proactiva Open Arms, Oscar Camps, was also honored with a medal at the ceremony by Catalonia's regional parliament.
