UN urges evacuation of 6,000 sailors stranded in Hormuz strait

The United Nations on Friday called for the safe evacuation and repatriation of some 6,000 sailors stuck in a “dire humanitarian and human rights crisis” in the Strait of Hormuz. UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for urgent action to remedy the plight of thousands of seafarers caught up in the Middle East war, his spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said. The International Maritime Organization has said there are at least 6,000 seafarers on hundreds of vessels who are stranded in the strait, unable to evacuate during the ceasefire.

Many others are unaccounted for. Turk is urging states, ship owners and all other relevant actors to “urgently ensure the protection of stranded seafarers”, including through consular assistance and providing essential supplies, “and by facilitating evacuations and repatriations”, Mantoo told a press conference in Geneva. “Parties to the conflict should urgently work to facilitate safe passage for stranded seafarers to safely evacuate and disembark, as well as ensure the delivery of critical supplies,” Mantoo added.

The war, which erupted at the end of February, resumed this month after a ceasefire that had lasted just a few weeks, throwing the region back into chaos as Iran and the United States battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz. The US military insists that the strategic waterway — through which one fifth of the world’s oil passed before the war — is “open for transit” after Iran pressed on with attacks on tankers using the route in a bid to strongarm them into paying for safe passage. “Attacks against civilian vessels are unacceptable and must stop.

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They are protected under international humanitarian law,” said Mantoo. “Seafarers remain exposed to hostilities as deadly attacks in the strait continue — facing imminent risks of death or harm,” the spokeswoman said, adding that 17 seafarers had been reported killed since the conflict erupted at the end of February. The UN rights office said some seafarers had been abandoned at sea by ship owners who had left them without support, repatriation and wages, including at least nine ships with 93 crew members.

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