MSF rescue ship detained in Italy following threats by Libyan Coast Guard
March 26, 2024Geo Barents, the search and rescue ship operated by international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has been issued a detention order for 20 days by the Italian authorities for allegedly failing to comply with instructions issued by...
Read moreMSF: “We call upon the European Commission and EU States to urgently invest in life-saving rescue capacities”
July 14, 2023Today, 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....
Read moreNon-Governmental Organisations urge European Commission to put under scrutiny Italian law restricting search and rescue activities at sea
July 13, 2023Brussels, 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...
Read moreMSF: EU policies are killing people as they search for safety
July 8, 202330 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...
Read moreNew decree obstructs lifesaving rescue efforts at sea and will cause more deaths
January 5, 2023We, 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...
Read moreSOS Mediterranee, MSF and Sea-Watch alert on the critical risk of more deaths in the central Mediterranean this summer in the absence of European state led search and rescue operations
August 3, 2022In 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...
Read moreMSF 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...
Read moreMSF is determined to return to sea to save lives after Geo Barents detained in Italy
July 5, 2021Hundreds 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...
Read moreMediterranean migration: MSF returns to saving lives at sea in central Mediterranean
May 13, 2021AMSTERDAM – 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...
Read moreMediterranean 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...
Read moreMediterranean 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...
Read moreMediterranean Migration: Place of safety needed for 356 people rescued in Central Mediterranean
August 14, 2019AMSTERDAM – After four consecutive days of lifesaving search and rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean, there are 356 vulnerable men, women and children currently on board the Ocean Viking. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and SOS MEDITERRANEE have...
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