Rethinking the sea as a public space

In recent decades, the mobility of people by sea and the efforts of the coastal states to control their own borders have led to a constant reconfiguration of the Mediterranean Sea. If we look at the central Mediterranean using real-time mapping programmes, we can visualise a multitude of actors crossing it every day: however, the picture we see is partially incomplete. Military vessels or other assets carrying out border controls or monitoring fisheries are invisible, as are the unseaworthy boats used by those who have no option but to take irregular and risky routes to exercise their right to flee.This article proposes to rethink the sea as a “public space” and focuses on its accessibility as a matter of justice. Depending on their status and role, those who try to have access to the sea – from a physical and political perspective – face various restrictions. Furthermore, when claiming access to this space, they are confronted with various forms of (in-)justice on different levels. Justice may concern issues of mobility, epistemology and accountability among others, but it is also directly at stake when it comes to reclaiming access to a space that is supposed to be public.After situating the sea in the scientific debate on public space, this article examines the constraints faced by seaborne migrants, search and rescue institutions, civil society organisations and commercial actors in accessing the central Mediterranean and how each of them deals with the “justice gap” that exists at sea, as a multidimensional concept made of mobility injustice, epistemic injustice and a lack of state accountability for violence and rights violations. Finally, it argues that access to the sea and related struggles for justice can not only contribute to reshaping the sea as a public space but can foster processes of remaking justice from below.