The massive migrant wave to Europe which began in 2015 has shown that migration control is the Achilles' heel of the EUs core values. The crisis of solidarity forced coastal member states to accept the majority of the new arrivals, and despite numerous tragedies at sea, EU soon began to tighten its immigration policy. This Master's thesis deals with the protection of persons in distress at sea, which is governed by several sub-branches of international law. The extent of protection will sometimes depend on the status a person enjoys under international law. In order for a State to exercise its jurisdiction, such as intercepting a migrant ship, it is important to identify the maritime zone in which the ship is located. While in the territorial sea, the State is sovereign and enjoys a wide field of powers, on the high seas, the principle of the freedom of the high seas applies, where jurisdiction is exercised on the basis of the ship's flag rule, and a warship will only be able to interfere with a foreign ship in exceptional circumstances. One of the most important institutes of the law of the sea is the obligation to rescue persons in distress at sea, regardless of their nationality or status. Problems arise in implementing this obligation in practice, as well as in disembarking rescued persons to safety. European countries are not keen on taking them in, so they enter into bilateral agreements with third countries, under which the latter take on the burden of receiving them. Although, in practice, the protection of these persons is not satisfactory, my initial hypothesis is that the international legal framework for protection is sufficiently precise that there should be no circumvention of the relevant rules.
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