An international charity which has rescued thousands of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea says it will stop using its rescue boat because new Italian laws “have made it impossible to continue”.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – has been using the Geo Barents vessel since June 2021 on a succession of operations.
Last year, Sky News was on board when its crew rescued more than 600 people who had been crammed together on an old fishing boat.
It was the biggest rescue the charity had carried out and our report prompted fresh debate about dangerous migration routes among politicians in the UK and across the EU.
A young injured man pictured last year being lifted onto the vessel with a sling
The lower decks of the Geo Barents packed with more than 600 people following a rescue in 2023
The Mediterranean Sea is considered the most dangerous migrant route in the world.
The charity said the Geo Barents had rescued a total of 12,675 people during 190 operations. It has also recovered 24 bodies and assisted in the delivery of a baby.
However, MSF said Italian law, updated last year, had now made it impossible to operate large rescue vessels.
The legislation restricts the rights of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in running rescue operations.
The rules include a requirement for boats to return to port as soon as a single rescue has been conducted, regardless of how many people were brought to safety.
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Charities have maintained that a vessel the size of Geo Barents, which can accommodate around 600 people, should not be mandated to return if it has only rescued a handful of people.
There has also been a long-running dispute between NGOs about which port they should use when bringing rescued migrants to Italy.
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Rather than docking at the nearest port, NGO boats are routinely told to make long journeys to distant ports.
When Sky News was filming on the Geo Barents, we saw how the boat, packed to capacity with people, was told to go past a series of ports in order to get to Bari.
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The Italian government has levied a succession of penalties on the Geo Barents for breaches of its rules, forcing the vessel to stay in port for 160 days. It has also fined MSF for ignoring the regulations.
Italian politicians have accused rescue charities of encouraging migrants to try to get to Italy, claiming that they feel emboldened to risk the journey because they expect to be rescued.
Giorgia Meloni promised a much tougher approach to irregular migration when she was elected prime minister two years ago, and has already reduced the rights of migrants arriving in the country.
She has also signed a deal that allows for migrants arriving in Italy to be transferred to Albania while their claims are being processed.
Ms Meloni said Italy was now “a model to follow” for other countries struggling with the political challenge of migration.
MSF said it would “be back as soon as possible” to carry out further search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean region, but said it was “untenable” to continue operating the Geo Barents.