MEDITERRANEAN: More rescues and deaths in Central Mediterranean ― Cyprus accused of pushbacks and ignoring NGO warnings prior to tragedy ― Leaked EU document suggests Malta refuses to co-operate in search and rescue missions ― Italian court confirms su…

• A number of serious incidents have taken place in the Central Mediterranean in recent weeks.
• Cypriot authorities have been accused of pushing back three boats and ignoring warnings from a search and rescue NGO the day before a shipwreck.
• Leaked documents from an EU naval operation have indicated that Malta refuses to participate in search and rescue missions in its designated zone.
• A court in Italy has confirmed the suspension of the administrative detention imposed on the Geo Barents search and rescue ship.

There have been a number of serious incidents in the Central Mediterranean in recent weeks. On 28 February, authorities in Tunisia reported that 64 people had been rescued from a boat that had capsized off the coast of Mahdi. On 4 March, the NGO Sea-Watch said that one of its ships had rescued 32 people who had spent several days stranded on a gas platform off the coast of Tunisia. Sea-Watch also reported that it had taken the people, who it described as being in a “critical condition’, to Lampedusa where they disembarked on 5 March but that one person had died on the platform. On 17 March, the Tunisian coastguard said that it had rescued 612 people and recovered 18 bodies in several operations off the coast of Sfax. Most recently, Italian authorities reported that 10 people had been rescued and six bodies had been recovered after a boat capsized off the coast of Lampedusa on 18 March. They added that a search was ongoing for 40 other people who had been on the boat and were still missing.

A shipwreck that cost the lives of at least seven people has developed into a political row in Cyprus. On 17 March, Cypriot state-run television reported that two people had been rescued and seven bodies recovered after a boat sank off Cape Greco and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) confirmed that a search and rescue (SAR) operation was ongoing. The official response to the tragedy has gained particular attention as social media posts by the NGO Alarm Phone indicate that it had alerted the Cypriot authorities about the boat on 16 March but that it received an unconvincing response. “The JRCC is informed but the officers only said they are ‘investigating’ and have no information to provide,” it wrote, adding: “We fear a pushback is in the making!”. On 18 March, three opposition parties issued statements condemning the government’s handling of the incident. The Movement of Ecologists – Citizens’ Cooperation (KOSP) said: “The Cypriot Republic itself admits it failed to effectively examine information regarding this shipwreck from a non-governmental organisation”. It also called for a “full and independent investigation”. KOSP’s demand was echoed by the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) which called for a “reliable, objective and prompt investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy” and reminded the government of its obligations to comply with “international law and relevant international conventions”. Volt Cyprus stated that the tragedy “could and should have been avoided” and urged the government to “immediately stop pushback practices at sea and along the Green line”.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has highlighted a pushback incident that reportedly took place three days before the Cape Greco tragedy. In a press release issued on 18 March, the UNHCR expressed its concern that on 14 March, three boats with approximately 80 Syrians onboard “were reportedly pushed back by Cypriot authorities, as a result of which the Syrian nationals were forcibly returned to Syria from where they had fled”. The UNHCR also repeated its call to states to “refrain from pushbacks and summary returns of individuals without legal and procedural safeguards” and reminded them that any “law enforcement operations” had to be conducted “with the respect of international law, including refugee and human rights law, and should not result in situations incompatible with the prohibition of refoulement”. On 19 March, the Cypriot government issued a statement in which it attempted to eliminate some of the “confusion” regarding the recent incidents. “We categorically deny that there were gunshots fired, water sprayed, or any pushbacks conducted, as reported in some media outlets,” it said. The statement also refuted accusations that Cypriot authorities were responsible for human rights violations and said that they had “never ignored a call for help” regarding SAR operations.

Leaked documents from an EU naval operation have indicated that Malta refuses to participate in SAR missions in its designated zone. According to the Times of Malta newspaper, an internal memo from the EU Naval Force Mediterranean Operation IRINI from September 2024 stated that despite numerous “events” taking place in Malta’s SAR zone, they are dealt with by Italian authorities as “Malta never responds and refuses to follow these operations”. The news will come as no surprise to the various SAR NGOs who have repeatedly accused Malta of neglecting its SAR obligations. “They [Maltese authorities] are very clearly not carrying out rescue operations in the vast majority of cases,” said a spokesperson for AlarmPhone. Referring to Malta’s rescue coordination centre, a spokesperson for SOS MEDITERRANEE said: “They rarely pick up the phone, and if they do they tell us to send an e-mail – they never reply to that email. They are really absent from any coordination”. Regarding Malta’s involvement in rescues, the spokesperson added: “It’s not happening; what we’re seeing is Libyan boats intercepting in Malta’s SAR against the international maritime convention”. A spokesperson for Sea-Watch added: “Malta does not co-operate with us. If they do pick up the phone they ignore the information we give them”. Commenting on the leaked memo, a spokesperson for the Maltese Ministry for Home Affairs, Security and Employment said that “all emergency notifications received were investigated, assessed, prioritised, and acted upon accordingly, regardless of the provenance or legal status of the persons requiring rescue”.

On 11 March, a court in Italy confirmed the suspension of the administrative detention imposed on the Geo Barents SAR ship. According to a statement issued by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the detention, which was imposed in August 2024, was first suspended by the Salerno Civil Court in September 2024 when it found that the Geo Barents “had not contributed to creating a dangerous situation on board” and that the detention would “irreversibly jeopardise the vessel’s right to pursue its humanitarian objectives in accordance with international law and Italian constitutional values”. MSF added that by confirming the suspension, the Salerno court had “once again showed the importance of protecting human life at sea against restrictive and unjust policies that seek to criminalise humanitarian search and rescue activities at sea”. The Geo Barents has been moored since December 2024 when MSF announced that it had ceased operations due to the difficulties it faced in conducting activities “under current Italian laws and policies”.

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