Over 31,300 people have died or been reported missing in the Mediterranean Sea over the last decade. In 2024 alone, the number of people who died or went missing was at least 2,300.
The European Union should be prioritizing search and rescue in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, it has largely abdicated its responsibility and instead seemingly adopted an abhorrent policy of deterrence by drowning. Humanitarian groups have conducted rescue operations to fill the void.
In a new feature essay, Ship of Humanity, HRW’s Judith Sunderland recounts her experience aboard one of the last missions of the Geo Barents, a rescue ship operated by the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in September 2024.
In two operations, the MSF team rescued 206 people, mainly from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Syria, despite the interference of a Libyan patrol boat that at one point threatened to open fire. The Italian authorities subsequently ordered the ship detained at port for 60 days for not complying with orders from Libyan authorities, among other reasons.
In December, MSF announced it would no longer use the Geo Barents, citing Italian laws and policies that make it “impossible to continue with the current operational model.”
So as another humanitarian mission pauses in the Mediterranean, what does that mean for the many people making the dangerous journey to flee hardship and abuse in hopes of reaching safety?
It’s not great.
Despite overwhelming evidence of horrific detention and abuse of migrants in Libya, the EU supports the Libyan forces’ efforts to detect boats and pull people back, notably through the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex providing aerial surveillance over the central Mediterranean. It is now replicating this model with other countries like Tunisia and Lebanon, where people face abuse, including the risk of expulsion despite the risk of further harm.
In October 2024, Human Rights Watch opened the #WithHumanity campaign calling on Frontex to take concrete steps to use its technology and expertise to save lives, such as monitoring distress cases and providing assistance when needed.
These are people “moving towards a future they want to build,” Sunderland writes. The EU should be offering safety and protection rather than leaving people vulnerable to abuse and death.
Read the Feature
