Today, the European Parliament, representing the citizens of the EU, adopted a Resolution on the need for the European Union to step up its efforts in saving lives at sea and to invest in proactive state-led search and rescue activities. We call upon the European Commission and EU States to take this call from the … Read more
Brussels, 13 July, 2023 – Five leading Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have submitted a complaint to the European Commission (EC) about Italian Law 15/2023 and the practice by Italian authorities of assigning ports distant from the area where the rescue took place, to disembark people from humanitarian search and rescue vessels. The NGOs submitting the complaint … Read more
30 June, 2023 – Following the shipwreck of 14 June which left up to 500 people dead or missing off the coast of Greece, international humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounces EU migration policies and calls for accountability over the lives lost and for a dedicated, proactive, state-led search and rescue mechanism … Read more
We, civil organisations engaged in search and rescue (SAR) activities in the central Mediterranean Sea, express our gravest concerns regarding the latest attempt by a European government to obstruct assistance to people in distress at sea. A new law decree, signed by the Italian President on 2 January 2023, will reduce rescue capacities at sea … 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
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
Hundreds of lives are being lost in the Central Mediterranean Sea while humanitarian NGO vessels are detained, warns Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), as the Geo Barents becomes the latest NGO ship to be held by Italian port authorities. MSF calls upon the Italian authorities to swiftly facilitate the release of our search and rescue ship, to enable its return to … Read more
AMSTERDAM – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announces today the relaunch of its search and rescue activities in the central Mediterranean Sea to save the lives of refugees and migrants attempting the deadly sea crossing from Libya. Since 2015, MSF medical teams working on search and rescue ships have witnessed with horror the human tragedy … 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