Faced with yet another heartbreaking count, 21 bodies and over 60 missing in just 10 days in the Mediterranean Sea, the institutional silence is shameful. It is a silence that disregards the pain of survivors, a dehumanizing void that is intolerable. There has been no response from the Italian government and European institutions to the … Read more
By Juan Matías Gil, MSF Search and Rescue Representative “These kinds of tragedies are happening daily in the Mediterranean and at the European borders, right in front of everyone’s eyes. More and more people have been taking the sea to find refuge over the last few days and weeks, and several deadly shipwrecks have occurred, particularly along … Read more
Libyans desperate to flee violence risk the dangerous crossing to Europe Today, November 2, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on migration between the Italian and Libyan governments will automatically renew for three years. The European Union (EU)-sponsored agreement has seen millions of dollars of financial and technical support given to the Libya Coast Guard, who … 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
AMSTERDAM/ PARIS – The last few days have produced one of the most lethal episodes in the central Mediterranean Sea so far this year, with more than 100 people dying at sea in four separate shipwrecks within less than 72 hours. Six NGO rescue ships remain blocked in port by Italian and European authorities, as MSF teams in Libya … Read more
Five search and rescue boats detained, including MSF’s Sea-Watch 4, in five months. Here are five things to know about the current situation with search and rescue in the Mediterranean sea. 1. European governments are preventing rescue ships from saving lives The Sea-Watch 4, the search and rescue vessel operated by Sea-Watch and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), was detained … Read more
Amsterdam/Palermo – Misuse of maritime law is providing a smoke-screen for a political decision to prevent rescue ships from saving lives in the Mediterranean, declares Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), as the Sea-Watch 4 becomes the fifth NGO ship to be immobilised by Italian port authorities in less than five months. During its maiden … Read more
BERLIN, GERMANY/ BURRIANA, SPAIN – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is to join Sea-Watch on board the Sea-Watch 4, a new ship bound for lifesaving operations in the Central Mediterranean Sea. The collaboration has been urgently established as European member states brazenly exploit the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to further curtail search and rescue activities, while perpetuating cycles … Read more
As Italy was hit by the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak late last week, the Ocean Viking, the search and rescue ship operated by Doctors Withour Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and SOS MEDITERRANEE, was put under quarantine following the disembarkation of 276 people rescued at sea in the prior days. The Ocean Viking has complied with all measures and has now … Read more
Amsterdam/Marseille – As the 213 people rescued by the Ocean Viking last week disembarked in Messina, Italy, SOS MEDITERRANEE and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have repeated their calls to EU governments to cease hindering lifesaving Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, and to ensure a sustained and coordinated response to the ongoing humanitarian disaster in the central Mediterranean. More than … Read more