More Action Needed for Seafarers, ‘Collateral Victims’ of Measures to Curb Covid-19

联合国呼吁采取更多行动避免海员成为遏制新冠措施的“间接受害者”

 

Highlighting an “unparalleled crisis” affecting hundreds of thousands of crew members and maritime workers reeling due to the impact of COVID-19, the UN has called on the business sector and others involved in the shipping industry to do more to address the plight of seafarers worldwide.

联合国呼吁商界和其他参与航运业的相关人士采取更多措施，解决全球海员的困境。新冠大流行这场“空前的危机”影响了成千上万的船员和海事工作者。

 

In all, some 400,000 people are currently stranded on vessels, and a similar number are prevented from returning to ships, either to earn their living or to return home, due to COVID-19 restrictions on travel and transit.

 

总体而言，由于新冠疫情对旅行和过境的限制，目前约有40万海员滞留在船上，无法回家，还有同样数量的海员无法回到船只上谋生。

 

They have become “collateral victims” of COVID-19 related measures imposed by governments, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN Global Compact and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

 

联合国人权高专办、联合国全球契约和联合国商业与人权工作组星期二在一份联合声明中表示，海员已经成为各国政府实施的应对新冠疫情相关措施的“间接受害者”。

 

Measures such as travel bans, embarkation and disembarkation restrictions or suspension in the issuance of travel documents have severely strained the working conditions in the global shipping sector. As a result, seafarers are either unable to board ships or are trapped on board, extending their contracts beyond their original tours of duty – and often beyond the 11 months maximum period on board, according to international labour standards.

 

旅行禁令、上下船限制或暂停签发旅行证件等措施严重限制了全球航运部门的工作条件。其结果是，海员要么无法登船，要么被困在船上，延长了他们的合同，超出了他们最初的服役期-根据国际劳工标准，合同往往超过了在船上11个月的最长期限。

 

Similar conditions can be also found in those working in the fishing industry and on off-shore platforms, the three entities added.

 

三个机构还表示，在捕鱼业和近海平台工作的人面临类似的情况。

 

“This situation has severe impacts over the basic human rights of seafarers and other marine personnel, including the right to physical and mental health, the right to freedom of movement, and the right to family life,” they said. “It also increases dramatically the risks of security and environmental hazards.”

 

声明指出，这种情况严重影响了海员和其他海事人员的基本人权，包括身心健康权、行动自由权和家庭生活权。它还极大地增加了安全和环境危害的风险。

 

Responsibility not only limited to shipping sector

责任不仅限于航运业

 

In the statement, the three entities also drew attention to the fact that the responsibility to respect human rights of seafarers is not only limited to the shipping sector.

 

声明指出了尊重海员人权的责任不仅限于航运部门。

 

In line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the responsibility extends to the thousands of business enterprises that use the services of maritime freight transport – which accounts for almost 90 per cent of world trade, the three entities said.

 

根据联合国《企业与人权指导原则》，这一责任延伸至难以计数的使用海运服务的企业。而海运服务占全球贸易的近90%。

 

“Business enterprises of all sectors, especially multinational firms and global brands, as well as financial institutions with links to the sector, should assess and act upon the human rights situation of seafarers in the context of COVID, no matter which place they occupy in the value chain.”

 

所有部门的工商企业，特别是跨国公司和全球品牌，以及与该部门有联系的金融机构，都应该在新冠疫情的背景下评估海员的人权状况并采取行动，无论他们在价值链中处于哪个位置。

 

OHCHR, UN Global Compact and the UN Working Group urged steps such as conducting human rights due diligence to identify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and of governments’ response to COVID on the human rights of seafarers and other marine personnel across their value chain, and actively using their leverage to mitigate these impacts to the greatest extent possible.

 

三个机构还敦促采取措施，如开展人权尽职调查，以确定新冠大流行以及各国政府应对气候变化倡议对其价值链上的海员和其他海洋人员的人权产生的影响，并积极利用它们的杠杆作用，最大限度地减轻这些影响。

 

They also urged meaningful dialogue and consultation with seafarers’ and other worker’s organizations, trade unions, civil society, and other stakeholders in the design of relevant measures and actions.

 

他们还呼吁在制定相关措施和行动时与海员和其他工人组织、工会、民间社会和其他利益攸关方进行有意义的对话和协商。

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