Bangladesh, Dec. 4 -- When 24 humanitarian workers appear before the Mytilene Court of Appeals on December 4, they will not simply be defending themselves against serious felony charges. They will be standing as symbols of a broader struggle over Europes increasingly punitive approach toward migration, solidarity, and the human imperative to save lives at sea. Their case-widely condemned by rights groups, lawmakers, and international observers-has come to represent one of the starkest examples of how humanitarian aid has been reframed as criminal conduct across the continent.

The defendants, all former volunteers of the now-defunct Emergency Rescue Center International (ERCI), face accusations of participating in a “criminal organi...