Rome, 13 December 2024 – The international medical and humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced today that it has ceased operations on board its rescue vessel, Geo Barents, which had been operational since June 2021. Italian laws and policies have made it impossible to continue with the current operational model. MSF will begin a … Read more
Rome, Italy – On 11 September, the Italian Civil Court of Salerno ordered the suspension of the 60-day administrative detention of the Geo Barents, the search and rescue ship operated by Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The Italian authorities had imposed the detention in question on the Geo Barents on 26 August for allegedly failing … Read more
Central Mediterranean, 9 December 2022 – At 11:31 on Wednesday 7th December, little *Ali entered the world on board the Geo Barents, a search and rescue vessel chartered by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). His mother, Fatima*, gave birth in the small medical clinic on board, after hours of difficult labour. The pain began while she … Read more
In this summer season, SOS Mediterranee, MSF and Sea-Watch urgently call for the provision of European state-led search and rescue maritime assets in the central Mediterranean to prevent more deaths. Within five days, Geo Barents, a search and rescue ship operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Ocean Viking a search and rescue ship chartered … Read more
One year of operations in the Central Mediterranean have passed by, this time with the Geo Barents – Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) vessel – rescuing 3,138 people and conducting 6,536 medical consultations before disembarking in a place of safety in Europe. Following last week’s tragic rescue, the sad reality at the Southern European border has … Read more
MSF rescued 60 people, including six minors and 24 women, during two operations on board the Geo Barents ship on Monday 20 September. Once safely on board, some of the survivors decided to share the stories of their horrific journeys across the desert, in transit countries, the challenges related to multiple border crossings and of the horrific abuses … Read more
On 23 July MSF officially requested the release of its ship the Geo Barents from three weeks of detention after having responded to all requests made by the Italian Maritime Authority, which on 2 July identified 22 deficiencies leading to the administrative detention of the vessel. Since then, all deficiencies have been addressed, although MSF and … Read more