More than 1,500 people have died or gone missing in central Mediterranean waters while attempting to reach European shores so far this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday. Last week, a boat sank off the coast of Libya, leaving 40 people missing, the latest incident that has contributed to the death toll reaching a tragic figure (1,548 as of last update on November 8).
In total, more than 33,000 migrants have died in similar circumstances in the Mediterranean since 2014, when IOM began keeping the count. Meanwhile, maritime rescue NGOs report increased criminalization by the EU and several member states.
Although this figure is slightly lower than the number recorded in the same period last year (2,093 people, as of 12 November 2024), the IOM in a statement stressed the “urgent need for strengthened regional cooperation, expansion of safe and regular migration routes, and more effective search and rescue operations to avoid further loss of life.”
At the same time, 152,000 illegal immigration cases were registered in the EU in the first 10 months of this year, a 22% decrease compared to the same period in 2024, according to the European Border Monitoring Agency (Frontex). The Central Mediterranean route remained the busiest, with two in five irregular entries occurring on this route.
Humanitarian search and rescue NGOs are working fewer hours because immigration laws have increasingly criminalized their activities, making it extremely difficult to operate. Governments in countries such as Italy and Malta, ideologically-minded far-right parties in Europe, and the media have baselessly accused them of supporting illegal immigration.
One of the most controversial regulations is a new version of the directive penalizing the promotion of illegal immigration, which is pending negotiation in the European Parliament. Critics say this leaves it in the hands of countries to decide to measure lifesavers on humanitarian vessels, canoe passengers sitting near the helm or commanding the canoe, and the real smugglers in human trafficking networks who profit from them, by the same standards.
Human rights groups have been calling for the standards to be amended to include humanitarian provisions for two decades. However, the new article does not respond to these demands, but rather serves to further criminalize acts of solidarity.
175,000 lives saved
This point was recently hammered at an event organized by a left-wing parliamentary group in Brussels to demand political change and commemorate 10 years of work by these organizations, which they claim have saved 175,000 lives. Cecilia Strada, one of the lawmakers who organized the event, said the private fleet “fills a void created by politicians.” “The presence of a private fleet should not be necessary, but it is and continues to grow,” he argued.
In mid-October, Strada and La Izquierda group MPs Tinneque Struik and Estrella Galán presented the 2026 EU budget. The plan is to allocate 240 million euros a year to implement the so-called policy. Mare Solidarea search and rescue program proposed by the European Union and designed to save lives in the Mediterranean.
Brussels is not alone in legislating in this regard. Italy is the European country with the most restrictions on the activities of humanitarian relief NGOs, with a series of regulations in place since January 2023, including in the Piantedosi Decree (the surname of Italy’s Interior Minister at the time). The rules require NGOs not to carry out rescues without prior authorization from the authorities, to carry out only one operation at a time, and to go only to assigned ports, but not necessarily to the nearest port. Furthermore, they are usually very far away, in cities in northern Italy, forcing boats to invest unnecessary time and money in things like fuel, putting the lives of those rescued at risk and sometimes requiring medical attention that is not available until they reach land. Failure to comply with these measures may result in the detention and confiscation of the boat, as well as fines of up to €30,000 against the organization.
Médecins Sans Frontières, one of the largest NGOs with a presence in the Mediterranean, was one of the NGOs most affected by the decree, with the organization having to permanently suspend its ship operations. geography barents. But this Wednesday, he announced that he would be returning to sea on another boat. Oivonoperated as a rescue boat in Norway, and also modified and equipped in Valencia. Fulvia Conte, the group’s rescue team coordinator, called for stronger cooperation between coastal states to save lives. “Instead of guaranteeing the search and rescue operations that are their primary duty, coastal states not only do not support and respond to the relief needs that people initiate, but they support systems of border security and systems that obstruct those who help these people,” he declared.
violence in libya
These groups also report an increase in violent attacks by the Libyan coast guard on the high seas against migrants and the rescue vessels themselves. Just like last August when a patrol boat from the North African country opened fire on the coast. ocean vikingA rescue ship operated by the NGO “SOS Mediterranee”. The boat on which the aid workers were shot was donated by Italy through an EU-funded migration management programme.
Libya is perhaps the biggest obstacle before those embarking on a journey to Europe. The country is a failed state with countless recorded cases of torture, ill-treatment, and illegal detention of migrant populations, as well as numerous sudden returns of passengers from boats already in international waters that were captured and taken back to the North African country. According to Amnesty International, at least 82,000 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya between 2017 and 2022.
It is also classified as “dangerous” by the United Nations. It is one of several African countries, along with Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia and Egypt, to have signed multi-million dollar agreements with both the EU and, in this case, Italy, to help prevent clandestine ships from leaving port.
To draw attention to the impunity with which these actors operate in the Mediterranean, a group of 13 NGOs in the field announced on November 6 a decision to cease contact with the Libyan Coast Guard in order to avoid forced return to the country. This means disobeying another aspect of the Piante Dosi Decree, which forces NGO vessels to comply with the orders of the Tripoli Maritime Relief Center.
In this sense, Senator Estrada stressed in Brussels that NGOs must continue to operate at sea. “It is unfortunate that we must document the injustice and violence committed every day at sea by various armed groups funded by our tax dollars.”
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