NCFCA Policy Debate: Decriminalize Rescue (NEG)

Case Summary: In the Status Quo, an EU policy called the “Facilitation Directive” contains an intentional loophole that says member states can criminalize humanitarian or rescue aid to illegal migrants or asylum-seekers. For example, it can be a crime to send a boat out to rescue a drowning migrant in the Mediterranean Sea, or to give him first aid if he swims to the shore. The Affirmative plan claims they will stop making criminals out of Good Samaritans. But that’s not the end of the story, as Negative will point out. The Good Samaritan didn’t tell the victim beforehand to jump off a cliff with the promise that he would be rescued if he started to drown. Good Samaritans wouldn’t do that, but that’s what the rescuers are doing in the Affirmative’s case. They’re not heroes, they’re Bad Samaritans aiding and abetting the very problems they claim to be solving, and creating the injuries they claim to be healing.