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Mediterranean migration

On the morning of 7 June, our team onboard the Geo Barents carried out two rescue operations in the Libyan SAR region. In total, 146 were brought on board and received the care they needed. Central Mediterranean, June 2024.
© Frederic Seguin/MSF
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.

 
Italy

Seeking Refuge, Finding Suffering

Report 3 May 2011
 
Malta

Not Criminals: MSF exposes conditions for undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in Maltese detention centres

Report 17 Nov 2010
 
Malta

Photoblog: Malta - Olmo Calvo

Voices from the Field 16 Nov 2010
 
Libya

MSF fears for migrants forced back to Libya

Press Release 19 Nov 2009
 
Italy

MSF assists the five survivors - 73 feared dead - of boat tragedy in Lampedusa, Italy

Project Update 25 Aug 2009
 
Italy

MSF activities resume in Lampedusa, Italy

Project Update 28 Apr 2009
 
Italy

MSF calls on all participants to improve the conditions for migrants arriving on the southern shores of Europe

Press Release 11 Jul 2008
 
Italy

Helping desperate immigrants

Project Update 18 Aug 2004
 
Sudan

Hundreds of Sudanese live in 'Hotel Africa', Italy - a derelict railway station in the centre of Rome

Press Release 20 Oct 2003
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7 May 2018