Access to Healthcare

Left to Drown in the Southern European Border

In May 2021, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) relaunched search and rescue activities in the Central Mediterranean, chartering our own ship, the Geo Barents, to save lives, provide emergency medical care to rescued people, as well as make survivors’ voices heard from the world’s deadliest sea border.

Since MSF’s return to the Central Mediterranean in June 2021, our teams have continued to bear witness to the normalisation of stand-offs at sea and the consequent exacerbation of human suffering.

This report aims to highlight the continuous harm caused by European policies of deterrence enacted in the Central Mediterranean.