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Rotation 27 - Disembarkation

In Italy, we are working to support migrants and people on the move in several areas, in collaboration with local health authorities. We offer medical and psychological care to migrants and support local organisations who supply them with essential items.

Our activities in 2023 in Italy

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2023.

MSF in Italy in 2023 In Italy, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides medical and psychological care to migrants, who are often traumatised after their perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea and face further challenges as they travel north.
Italy IAR map 2023

Almost 160,000 people arrived in Italy in 2023 after crossing the Mediterranean Sea by boat, according to the Italian Ministry of the Interior. While this number is significantly higher compared to previous years, so too is the number of deaths: 2023 was one of the deadliest years on record, with an estimated 2,526 people losing their lives as they attempted to reach European shores.* 

Our teams in Italy continue to work at the northern and southern borders, offering medical and psychological care to migrants and supporting local organisations who supply them with essential items, such as winter shoes, inflatable hospital tents, and heaters.

In Calabria, our team helped local authorities to provide general healthcare for migrants and asylum seekers upon disembarkation at Roccella Ionica, one of the primary landing places in Italy.

Once again, there were multiple shipwrecks off the Italian coast during the year. In response, we sent a mobile team to six locations in Sicily and Calabria, where they conducted eight psychological first-aid interventions to assist survivors and families of the victims.

In northern Italy, our mobile team provided medical consultations, referrals and healthcare orientation to hundreds of people waiting to cross into France, most of whom were living in precarious conditions in unofficial settlements in the city of Ventimiglia after being pushed back from the border.

In Palermo, we maintained our support to the university hospital, delivering comprehensive care for migrants who had experienced torture and intentional violence in Libya and during their journeys. The project has an interdisciplinary approach, offering medical, psychological, social and legal assistance to patients.

MSF scaled up support to migrants by opening two new helpdesks in Rome and Naples. Like the ones already running in Palermo, Turin and Udine, they serve to guide and support migrants, asylum seekers and marginalised people to access medical services.
 

*https://missingmigrants.iom.int/region/mediterranean?region_incident=All&route=3861&year%5B%5D=11681&month=All&incident_date%5Bmin%5D=&incident_date%5Bmax%5D=

 

In 2023
 
SAR activities June 2017
Mediterranean migration

MSF ends mission of search and rescue boat Prudence

Statement 5 Oct 2017
 
March 2017: Search and Rescue Operations in The Mediterranean
Mediterranean migration

MSF launches new website on search and rescue work

Voices from the Field 15 Aug 2017
 
The last frontier
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

The last frontier – migrants stuck in Italy risk all to reach France

Project Update 3 Aug 2017
 
The last frontier
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move

Harsh living conditions for migrants in Ventimiglia

Press Release 3 Aug 2017
 
SAR activities June 2017
Mediterranean migration

MSF committed to saving lives on Mediterranean but will not sign the Italian “Code of Conduct”

Press Release 31 Jul 2017
 
Migrants Detention Centers Libya 2016
Mediterranean migration

MSF warns EU about inhumane approach to migration management

Statement 3 Feb 2017