Seafarers could face having to get many more visas if the UK and the Netherlands do not ratify an international convention quickly according to seafarers’ union Nautilus International. The union says it is stepping up its campaign to persuade the Dutch and British governments to sign up to the international convention on seafarer identity documents.
Nautilus is warning ministers in both countries that ‘seafarers could face continuing waves of additional visa requirements and shore leave restrictions will become the norm’ if they do not ratify the ILO Convention 185, which was ‘fast-track’ adopted in 2003 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. At the end of February, Russia became the 17th country to sign up to the convention, with a declaration of provisional application by one further ILO member state.
But Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson says he is concerned that neither the UK nor the Netherlands have ratified the convention or given an indication of when they might sign it.
“In the UK, it seems that some legal and practical issues need to be resolved, while the Dutch government has questioned the value of ratification,’ he explains. Nautilus says there are now signs that the Obama administration sees support for the convention as a priority.
“We are stepping up the pressure, as this convention is very important for our members and we need more widespread ratification to protect seafarers’ rights to shore leave and simple transit to their ships without the need for additional travel visas,” Mr Dickinson adds.
Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, director of the ILO’s international labour standards department, comments: “We are convinced that with this Seafarers’ Identity Document, the ILO will contribute both to safer shipping through positive identification of bona-fide seafarers, and to making life easier for the seafarers concerned.”
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