Geo-Barents

Doctors Without Borders has announced the cessation of operations of the 'Geo Barents', after having been operational since June 2021. Despite the more than 12,675 people rescued and the 190 rescue operations carried out since June 2021, the NGO has announced the end of operations due to absurd and senseless laws, from the Piantedosi decree of January 2023 to its tightening in December 2024, but planned to return to sea as soon as possible to save lives in the Central Mediterranean, where more than 31,000 people have died or gone missing since 2014, and also to bear witness and denounce the violations committed by Italy, EU Member States and other actors against people in the Central Mediterranean,” said Juan Matías Gil, the search and rescue representative. In the last two years, the 'Geo Barents' has faced four sanctions from the Italian authorities, which have imposed a total of 160 days of detention in port, punishing the ship for merely fulfilling the humanitarian and legal duty of saving lives at sea. These punitive measures were part of the ‘Piantedosi decree’, a decree law introduced by the Italian government in early 2023. In December 2024, Italy further intensified the severity of the sanctions by facilitating and speeding up the confiscation of humanitarian SAR vessels.

On Nov 28, the 'Geo Barents' rescued some 70 migrants who had fallen from their boat into the water in the central Mediterranean after being intercepted by a boat with armed Libyan coastguards, which took 29 women and children under threat of gunfire. The gunmen threatened the people on the boat, fired into the air and into the water, forcing 70 people to jump into the sea. They confiscated all cell phones and money they found. The gunmen attacked the people with the butts of their rifles to silence them. Then, threatening them with their weapons, they took the women and children. The 'Geo Barents' managed to save all people from the water, but the patrol boat left with the women and children in the direction of Libya. "This aggressive and irresponsible behaviour by a boat with armed men on board is unacceptable and endangers the lives of many people and separates entire family groups," the humanitarian organization Médicos Sin Fronteras (MSF) stated.

After the disembarkation on the morning of Sep 23 in Genoa, the Italian authorities imposed a double detention on the 'Geo Barents'. The first measure, provided for by the Piantedosi decree, provided for a 60-day detention and was based on the recurring accusations of not having respected the instructions of the so-called Libyan Coast Guard during the rescue of people in difficulty at sea. The second detention order followed an inspection of the ship by Port State Control, which found eight technical deficiencies. It wais the fourth time that the ship has been detained for fulfilling its legal obligation to save lives at sea. Accordiong to Doctors without Frontiers, the measures clearly demonstrate that the authorities want to prevent the 'Geo Barents' from returning to sea. The Italian authorities continue to give credibility to the Libyan Coast Guard, accused by the UN and other human rights NGOs of committing crimes against humanity".