Skip to main content
Rotation 1 Rescue 6

Mediterranean migration

Every year, thousands of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty at home attempt the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean. Countless lives are lost on the way.

Closing safe and legal options for people to reach Europe pushes them further into people smugglers' networks. In Libya, the detention of migrants and refugees is a thriving enterprise of kidnapping and extortion.

MSF is saving the lives of people trying to cross the central Mediterranean Sea with our own search and rescue vessel, Geo Barents. We also provide assistance to people held in Libyan detention centres and those arriving in Europe.

Webclip - 3 Things to Know: Impact of Migration Policies (EN)
video

Webclip - 3 Things to Know: Impact of Migration Policies

3 things to know - the impact of migration policies

The EU's migration policies are having a direct impact across the Mediterranean Sea, while people are trying to flee dangerous conditions in Libya. Here are three ways that the EU's policies on migration impact on the lives of people trying to seek safety.

 
The Sea-Watch 4 in the port of Burriana
Mediterranean migration

MSF and Sea-Watch announce collaboration to save lives at sea

Press Release 6 Aug 2020
 
Trapped in Danger
Libya

Libya: “They were shot and killed as they fled arbitrary detention”

Project Update 31 Jul 2020
 
Reunion in Halberstadt
Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

Escaping first Libya, and then coronavirus in Germany

Voices from the Field 15 Jun 2020
 
Ocean Viking – Restocking of supplies in the port of Marseille, France
Mediterranean migration

EU states use COVID-19 to shirk search and rescue obligations as MSF ends Ocean Viking partnership

Press Release 17 Apr 2020
 
Lesbos and Samos Oct2019
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

Evacuation of squalid Greek camps more urgent than ever over COVID-19 fears

Press Release 12 Mar 2020
 
Lesbos and Samos Oct2019
Greece

Greece, the ‘shield’ of Europe, and EU leaders push migrants into danger

Project Update 11 Mar 2020
 
Living conditions on Samos
Greece

EU must address migration emergency as Greek islands reach breaking point

Statement 4 Mar 2020
 
Rotation 7 - Quarantine of Ocean Viking
Mediterranean migration

Ocean Viking arbitrarily quarantined by Italian authorities over COVID-19 fears

Project Update 28 Feb 2020
 
Mobile clinic for migrants in Paris
France

Left out in the cold: MSF provides emergency beds for teenage migrants

Project Update 19 Feb 2020
Up Next
7 May 2018