Medecins Sans Frontieres says it will stop using rescue boat in Mediterranean Sea due to Italy law changes
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.
A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.
Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.
The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.
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People line up for food in Gaza
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.
They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.
Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food
She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.
“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.
“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.
It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.
Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.
A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.
It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.
“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.
The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.
Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.
More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.
Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.
King Charles and Mark Carney on Monday. Pic: PA
Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.
“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.
John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.
“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.
“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.
“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”
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John Jefkins
John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.
“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.
“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”
The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.
On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.
Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”
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