The central Mediterranean crossing route for African migrants seeking entry to Europe has grown far more dangerous in recent months, with armed Libyan factions increasingly threatening and harassing both vulnerable migrants at sea and civilian humanitarian rescue operations, a leading search-and-rescue aid organization has reported.
Europe’s enhanced cooperation with Libyan authorities and armed groups to block migrant departures has directly fueled this rising hostility, according to SOS Mediterranee, the NGO that operates the prominent rescue vessel Ocean Viking. The organization documented at least seven separate incidents between June and July where boats linked to Libyan actors approached NGO rescue craft at high speed, shadowed them for hours on end, and even chased the vessels into open international waters.
Beyond these targeted encounters, the group notes a sharp uptick in unmarked speed boats affiliated with multiple Libyan armed groups operating in the crossing region. These unidentified craft have carried out violent interceptions of migrant vessels in distress, including deliberately ramming overcrowded boats and executing dangerous maneuvers that put all people on board at grave risk of death.
This pattern of aggression is not a new development. Last year, SOS Mediterranee accused the Libyan coast guard of attacking the Ocean Viking while the ship was operating in international waters, with more than 100 rounds fired at the vessel. At the time of the attack, 87 rescued migrants and the ship’s civilian crew were on board, putting every person in immediate danger. Legal cases related to the attack have been launched in Italy, France, and Germany, but the organization says European Union institutions and national authorities across the bloc have refused to comment on the incident, and no perpetrators have been identified or held accountable to date.
SOS Mediterranee is now calling for a full, independent international investigation into the escalating violence targeting migrants and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean.
Data from the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) released earlier this month supports the aid group’s warnings: while stricter European migration deterrence policies have cut the total number of migrants attempting the deadly crossing, the fatality rate for those who do set out has spiked dramatically. Between January and April of this year, the IOM recorded 821 people dead or missing at sea along the route, a 111% increase compared to the same period in 2025. Over the same timeframe, total migrant arrivals to European shores fell 46% to just 8,577 people.