ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ongoing practices of interdiction of asylum seekers in the Mediterranean Sea, manifest in both push-back and pull-back forms, from the viewpoint of international law, including the law of the sea and international human rights law. It provides a typology of the push-back operations that have traditionally been practised in the region in different formats and considers their legal basis and lawfulness. Finally, it examines the more recent and subtle bilateral/multilateral ‘pull-back’ policies, involving mainly search and rescue practices, criminalisation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and outsourcing to third countries. The chapter concludes that these practices are at variance with the rule of law that should underpin all such unilateral and multilateral border management policies.
