Tragic shipwreck off the Italian coast: Flash quote from Marco Bertotto, Head of Operations MSF Italy
June 19, 2024Faced 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...
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41 people died in shipwreck off Lampedusa
August 10, 2023By 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...
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Libya: “I’m terrified that something bad will happen to my son”
November 2, 2022Libyans 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...
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MSF requests the revocation of the Geo Barents’ detention
July 24, 2021On 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...
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Mediterranean migration: Carnage in the Mediterranean is the direct result of European state policies
November 13, 2020AMSTERDAM/ 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...
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Mediterranean migration: Five things to know about the Mediterranean search and rescue crisis
October 17, 2020Five 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...
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Mediterranean migration: Detaining of fifth search and rescue ship in five months condemns people to die at sea
September 20, 2020Amsterdam/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...
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Mediterranean migration: MSF and Sea-Watch announce collaboration to save lives at sea
August 6, 2020BERLIN, 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...
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Mediterranean migration: Ocean Viking arbitrarily quarantined by Italian authorities over COVID-19 fears
February 28, 2020As 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...
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Mediterranean migration: Survivors disembark in Italy amidst deadly week in the Mediterranean
November 25, 2019Amsterdam/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...
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Mediterranean migration: European leaders must urgently allow disembarkation of 104 survivors
October 28, 2019SOS MEDITERRANEE and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) call on a broad coalition of European States to urgently facilitate the assignment of a port to the Ocean Viking and to finally put in place a predictable and coordinated disembarkation mechanism,...
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On board the Ocean Viking: “We feel humbled by their courage”
August 19, 2019After each of the four rescues, the MSF medical team completes a primary medical assessment, examining the medical needs of the rescued people. As well as assessing the physical scars, wounds and other conditions requiring immediate medical attention, we identify...
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