MEDITERRANEAN: More deaths of people on the move ― New IOM reports highlights dangers of Central Mediterranean route ― FRA publishes overview of legal cases against search and rescue NGOs ― NGO highlights changing migration route to Greece ― Teenagers …

• Dozens of bodies have been recovered from the Mediterranean sea and the Libyan coast following several tragic incidents in recent weeks.
• A new report by the International Organization for Migration has reinforced the Central Mediterranean’s status as the deadliest migration route in the world.
• The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has published an overview of the administrative and criminal proceedings against NGOs that are engaged in SAR activities in the Central Mediterranean.
• A new NGO article has highlighted the significant changes that have taken place regarding maritime migration routes to Greece.
• Four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of piloting small boats from North Africa to Crete on behalf of Libyan smuggling gangs.
• Another NGO rescue vessel has been detained by authorities in Italy.

Dozens of bodies have been recovered from the Mediterranean sea and the Libyan coast following several tragic incidents in recent weeks. On 23 August, the Tunisian National Guard reported that it had recovered the bodies of 11 people who had died after a boat carrying 15 people sank approximately 26km from the coastal town of Zarzis in the southeast of the country. One person was rescued and three others were missing. Elsewhere, on 18 August, the Libyan Red Crescent organisation reported that it had recovered 11 bodies from shores approximately 22km from Tripoli after a boat capsized. The Reuters news agency later reported information from local authorities that the boat may have been carrying 19 people. A few days earlier, the search and rescue (SAR) NGO SOS MEDITERRANEE reported that an aircraft that it operated jointly with the Humanitarian Pilots Initiative had spotted 11 bodies in the sea approximately 105km from the Libyan coastal city of Zuwarah.

A new report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reinforced the Central Mediterranean’s status as the deadliest migration route in the world. According to the report, which was published on 12 August,  821 people died or went missing along the route during the first four months of 2026. This represented a 111% increase on the previous year while the number of arrivals fell by 46% to 8,577 during the same period. The report also noted that 244 people had died on the Eastern Mediterranean route (259% increase). Commenting on the statistics, IOM Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels said: “Fewer arrivals do not mean safer journeys. Behind every one of these numbers is a family waiting for news that never comes”.

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has published an overview of the administrative and criminal proceedings against NGOs that are engaged in SAR activities in the Central Mediterranean. The report, which was published on 28 July, noted that, at end of June, 26 NGO-operated rescue vessels and reconnaissance aircraft were deployed in the Central Mediterranean, and that, since 2017, national authorities in EU member states (MS) had initiated 105 administrative or criminal proceedings affecting NGO SAR operations. It drew special attention to Italy which had opened 19 new cases since June 2025 and in whose ports NGOs have faced fines and the temporary detention of their vessels. The FRA has urged EU MS to “ensure that measures to combat migrant smuggling do not criminalise humanitarian assistance or undermine life-saving operations” and has recommended both an increase in SAR capacity at sea and that rescue operations “fully respect the principle of non-refoulement and ensure that rescued people are disembarked in places where their fundamental rights are protected”.

A new NGO article has highlighted the significant changes that have taken place regarding maritime migration routes to Greece. The article, which was published by Aegean Boat Report on 22 August, highlights the major increase in the number of people who are travelling across the Mediterranean from Libya to Crete and provides an explanation for why this route has overtaken the eastern Aegean (Türkiye to Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Kos etc.) as the main maritime migration pathway into the country. After considering various possible reasons (“War and displacement, changing movements through North Africa, increasingly established smuggling networks in eastern Libya and intensified border enforcement in the Aegean”), it concludes with the pertinent question: “Are Europe’s border policies actually stopping migration – or are they helping change where, and how dangerously, people travel?”.

Four teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of piloting small boats from North Africa to Crete on behalf of Libyan smuggling gangs. The Kathimerini newspaper has reported that the boys, who said that they were aged between 14 and 17, were arrested on 16 August after they reportedly brought a total of 229 people to Crete in four boats. Two men aged 21 and 27 were also arrested on suspicion of piloting two other boats with 132 people on board. All six suspects are believed to be from South Sudan and are facing charges of “exposing their passengers to danger and facilitating their illegal entry to Greece”.

Another NGO rescue vessel has been detained by authorities in Italy. On 23 August, the SAR NGO Sea-Watch announced that its Sea-Watch 5 ship had been detained for 45 days in Naples and fined €7,500 for “failing to inform the Libyan authorities” about a rescue operation that it had conducted in international waters 10 days earlier. According to the NGO, the ship had rescued six people who had been “forced overboard from a boat driven by unidentified actors” when it was approached by an “unidentified Libyan vessel” aboard which people “threatened the rescue crew with a firearm”. It also stated that the rescue ship’s crew had reported both the rescue and the maritime security incident to German authorities and that the Libyan coastguard had “communicated with the Sea-Watch 5 via radio regarding the rescue operation and received all relevant information”. Commenting on the detention and fine, Sea-Watch Spokesperson Giulia Messmer said: “While people drown seeking safety, Italy criminalises rescue crews for doing their job”. “This is not migration policy – it is active obstruction of emergency assistance,” she added.

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