Rescue ships operating in the central Mediterranean are facing a growing wave of threats, harassment, and violent interference from Libyan armed groups. As European cooperation with Libyan actors deepens, the sea route has become even more deadly—and those trying to save lives are increasingly in the crosshairs.
A fleet of threats operating without consequence
In the latest incident, a boat carrying 15 people sank off the southeastern coast of Tunisia. Twelve bodies were recovered. One person survived. Two remain missing. Seven of the dead were from the same family, from the town of Ben Guerdane.
It is part of a broader pattern that rescue organizations have been documenting for months.
SOS Mediterranée, one of the leading organizations monitoring and providing aid to migrants crossing the Mediterranean, released a statement marking one year since the Libyan coast guard attacked its Ocean Viking rescue ship in international waters.
Radio France International (RFI) reports:
“The group reported on at least seven occasions in June and July when boats “linked to Libyan actors” had approached rescue vessels “at high speed” or trailed them for hours, engaging in “chases” into international waters.”
“There had also been a “significant increase in the presence of unidentified speed boats linked to different armed groups in Libya”, which were seen violently intercepting migrant boats, deliberately ramming them and “and performing manoeuvres that endangered lives”.
SOS Mediterranée opened legal proceedings over the Ocean Viking attack in France, Italy, and Germany. Yet, as the organization notes, “European and national authorities have remained silent” and “those responsible for the attack have not been identified.” The organization is calling for a full and independent investigation.
Europe funds the system that fuels the violence
The violence is happening alongside a sharp and troubling shift in the data. The UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that while migrant arrivals in Europe fell 46% in the first four months of 2026 compared to the same period the year before, deaths and disappearances rose 111%.
Fewer people are attempting the crossing. More are dying and suffering on land. That is not a policy success. It is a consequence of making the route more dangerous and removing the infrastructure that saves lives. Meanwhile overcrowding in detention centers on land is extreme, where the buying and selling of migrants into slavery continues unabated.
This escalation does not happen in a vacuum. SOS Mediterranée points directly to “the expansion of European cooperation with Libyan actors regarding migration deterrence” as a driver of the increasingly hostile environment its ships now operate in.
The EU has for years funded and trained Libyan coast guard forces despite well-documented evidence of abuse. Migrants intercepted at sea are returned to detention centers in Libya where beatings, extortion, and forced labor are routine. Some never reach Libya at all. Mass graves linked to migrant abuses are uncovered there every year.
Recently, the EU’s unveiled a five-year migration strategy that does not change course. It expands returns, deepens external enforcement partnerships, and introduces “return hubs”—facilities that would hold rejected asylum seekers, potentially throughout their entire asylum process. Countries that refuse cooperation face punishment.
Meanwhile, the most vulnerable people—those fleeing trafficking, exploitation, and violence—find the door to protection narrowing.
Demand the EU ends complicity in Mediterranean violence
The pattern is clear and documented. Europe outsources migration control to Libya. The Libyan Coast Guard and other armed groups attack rescue ships and intercept migrants with impunity. People die. And the authorities responsible for oversight call it deterrence.
Migration control cannot rest on outsourced violence. Freedom United is calling on the EU to end cooperation that fuels trafficking, forced labor, and deadly violence in Libya. Take action and demand that European leaders stop funding a system that exploits people and puts lives at risk.
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