By Samantha M
On Aug. 24 a humanitarian ship named the Ocean Viking rescued 87 people from a rubber dinghy who were trying to arrive in Italy. The Libyan coastguard started to open fire on the Ocean Viking shortly after. The Ocean Viking crew issued a mayday call and alerted NATO. They then were led to the Italian navy, but a source from Politico states that “ the Italian Navy never answered the phone”.
Italy and other EU countries have been complicit with unlawful acts Libya has committed especially among people attempting to migrate or leave Libya. In 2025, 14,063 migrants from Libya trying to escape the highly dangerous and inhumane acts of their country were intercepted and sent back to Libya.
Some EU countries including Italy have continued to openly do business deals or funding various affairs of Libya. For example, Italy has given money to Libya’s coastguard and the boat from the August 24th incident.
From 2018 to 2025, there has been a total of 249 deaths of migrants who crossed the English channel. In addition, in the Mediterranean alone, in the past five years 8,637 migrants have died trying to cross borders.
Many of the migrants who cross these waters are desperately seeking to leave war-torn countries and to find a safe place for themselves and their families.
Another incident took place in Nov. 2021. An inflatable dinghy carrying 27 migrants sank in the English channel. The migrants on board of the boat made several distress calls to the coastguard, yet no one came to the rescue. One of the migrants on board, Kurd Mubin, made the first call to France’s channel rescue center at 1:30 am. He then called again at 2:30am and sent their location via whatsapp. The response to the coastguard was to “stop calling”. At 3:11am, he made his last call for help. Of the 33 migrants on the small boat, 27 died. This included children the victims were ages 7 to 46. Despite lifejackets, they most likely drowned or experienced hypothermia due to the 13 degree celsius waters. They were discovered 12 hours later by fishermen.
This continues to be a humanitarian crisis at sea. Many migrants have faced death in attempts to escape danger in their home country. Due to the lack of access to safe routes, the result has led to many migrants dying at sea while attempting to seek another life. This calls for international attention especially since many of the home countries of these migrants are continuing to experience violence and unrest with no end in sight.