While Libyan militias escalate their crimes at sea, shooting at rescue ships and people on the move, the network Refugees in Libya have organised an impressive mobilisation against the EU complicity and its "deal of death." As Italian authorities continue to obstruct sea rescue efforts, several NGOs have launched the Justice Fleet campaign, a collective response of solidarity and resistance. At the same time, as EU governments push to expand systems of detention and deterrence through the new Migration and Asylum Pact, self organised and anti-racist networks have joined forces in a powerful chain of actions. Together, they marked the 10th anniversary of the Summer of Migration, declaring loud and clear, - to complete the headline above: "Freedom of movement is everybody's right!". Their voices rise across borders, defying fear, reclaiming dignity, and demanding justice for all on the move. In 2025: • 59,295 people arrived to Italy and Malta by sea, many of whom arrived autonomously (UNHCR figures up to 1 November) • 12,192 people were rescued by the Civil fleet from almost 230 boats in distress (CMRCC figure up to September 10) • 22,945 people were pushed back to Libya after they were intercepted by the EU-supported so-called Libyan Coast Guard (IOM figure up to 1 November) • 1.044 people have been reported dead or missing on the Central Mediterranean Route (IOM figure up to 1 November)eniam.
On Thursday evening, January 22nd, at 18:40, 61 survivors arrived at Favaloro Pier. Departed from Tunisia on an iron boat, they have been taken onboard the Italian patrol boat CP 322, 50 nautical miles from Lampedusa, after being struck by Cyclone Harry—the most violent cyclone to hit the central Mediterranean in the 21st century. An event that...
Over the past month, Lampedusa has become a testing ground for the introduction of new screening and border management tools, most notably the new "Screening Toolbox" package made available by the Frontex Agency. The pilot, which lasted from October 13th to 24th 2025 at the Lampedusa hotspot and was carried out by Frontex in collaboration with EUAA...
At the beginning of September, a transnational chain of actions will begin to commemorate the 2015 Summer of Migration. This anniversary not only serves as a moment to reflect on our fundamental critique of the deadly European border regime, but also reaffirms our ongoing struggle for freedom of movement. Today, we live together in a society of the...
Shortly after midday on Wednesday 13th August, 2025, 61 survivors from a shipwreck - whose circumstances remain unclear in many respects - arrived and disembarked at the Favarolo pier in Lampedusa, Italy. Twenty-three bodies were recovered from the sea, including 13 men, 7women and 3 minors, while an unknown number of people remain missing. During...
On 11 March 2025, the EU Commission presented its new proposal for the Return Regulation. Deportation regulations are set to be significantly tightened, with renewed discussions around the establishment of so-called 'return hubs'. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission, is proposing that these detention centres for deportees should also...
The so-called "Miskar case", the extraordinary rescue of 32 people from a gas platform in the overlapping Tunisian and Maltese Search and Rescue (SAR) zones to Lampedusa in March 2025, contains a deeper meaning for us in these terrible times: never give up even in desperate situations. Who could imagine that the tenacity of the people on the move,...
Lampedusa, as the transit point of many people on the move, is an important place in the fight against borders. We want to share some insights on what we could see while living on the island, by creating links to the other side of the sea. How is the situation in Tunisia and Libya affecting the arrivals in Lampedusa? How...
On March 18, 2025, yet another shipwreck occurred just 15 nautical miles off the coast of Lampedusa. 10 people were rescued, 7 bodies were recovered, and 39 people are still missing. They departed from Sfax, Tunisia on the Night of March 16.[1]
