Political representatives from Sussex have spoken out against harassment and intimidation targeting volunteer lifeboat personnel following incidents involving far-right groups.
The condemnation follows RNLI operations in Hastings and Eastbourne that responded to migrant vessel activity in the Channel.
Helena Dollimore, representing Hastings, Rye and the villages as a Labour and Co-operative member of parliament, and Josh Babarinde, the Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne, released a joint communication expressing solidarity with volunteer crews and urging increased backing for those involved in maritime rescue efforts.
The communication noted that rescue crews throughout the nation had encountered deeply troubling harassment and digital abuse during preceding weeks.
Within the most recent day period, representatives indicated alarm at observing such behaviour extend to local rescue volunteers.
The MPs emphasised that both Hastings, Rye and the villages, alongside Eastbourne, held profound appreciation for local lifeboat operations and the volunteers who have undertaken maritime rescues for more than two centuries without discrimination.
The communication stressed that intimidation and abuse directed at rescue personnel could never be justified.
Representatives described the volunteers as individuals wholly committed to public service who accept personal risk to assist others.
The communication called for heightened public support for rescue operations during this period and invited contributions to sustain critical humanitarian work.
Appreciation was extended to rescue crews and emergency services broadly for their willingness to place themselves in danger while protecting others.
The communication emerged amid accounts of online harassment and exposure of personal information concerning volunteers engaged in Channel rescue activities.
On the preceding Tuesday evening, the Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat organisation based in Hastings indicated that its volunteers had observed individuals monitoring their activities.
Those observers subsequently shared provocative, harmful and factually incorrect material across social platforms.
The organisation had been attending to reports of a woman requiring assistance in waters near St Leonards.
The situation was subsequently flagged to HM Coastguard.
The developments occurred one day after an individual opposing immigration broadcast live footage from a location where rescue operations were underway, with those operations involving teams from both Hastings and Eastbourne RNLI branches.
On Tuesday, September 22, HM Coastguard directed lifeboat resources to support asylum seekers after an inflatable watercraft experienced difficulties off the Hampshire coastline.
Emergency personnel evacuated 51 individuals from the vessel due to concerns regarding deteriorating wellbeing and passenger safety, before transferring them to a Border Security Command vessel.
The RNLI has consistently maintained that its personnel attend to individuals in peril at sea without consideration of their background, consistent with the organisation’s enduring objective of preserving life.