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Search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and fundamental rights - June 2025

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights regularly collects data on the operations of NGO vessels involved in search and rescue in the Mediterranean. This includes any legal proceedings against them, as well as any difficulties in disembarking migrants in safe ports. This paper provides an overview of criminal investigations and other legal proceedings initiated by European Union (EU) Member States against civil society organisations deploying search and rescue vessels and aircraft in the Mediterranean and/or against individual crew members. The latest update covers the period from 2018 up until the first of June 2025.


Conclusion

EU Member States should clearly distinguish between migrant smugglers and those enforcing the human rights imperative to save lives at sea, acting out of humanitarian considerations or following international legal obligations on rescue at sea. Measures to combat migrant smuggling and facilitation of irregular migration should not target humanitarian actors. The ongoing revision of the EU Facilitation Directive 2002/90/EC constitute an opportunity to find ways to exclude humanitarian assistance from being punished.

The 2017 UNHCR guidance on search and rescue operations at sea, including the non-penalisation of those taking part in these activities, together with the updated IMO and UNHCR guide Rescue at sea – A guide to principles and practice in the context of refugees and migrants movements (April 2025) and the UNHCR legal considerations on the roles and responsibilities of States in relation to rescue at sea, non-refoulement, and access to asylum(December 2022), provide useful guidance for national authorities and courts on finding the right balance between applicable international and EU law, and national law.

For more information, see the following FRA publications: