Accessibility links
Mediterranean migrants Mediterranean migrants
Stories About

Mediterranean migrants

Friday

He took one of the deadliest migrant routes, hoping to save his cancer-stricken son

Syrian refugee Narmeen al-Zamel, 34, stands with her 3-year-old son Khaled in the lobby of the King Hussein Cancer Center in Amman, Jordan. Moises Saman for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Moises Saman for NPR

World

He took one of the deadliest migrant routes, hoping to save his cancer-stricken son

NPR speaks to the family of a Syrian refugee who died along with possibly hundreds of other people in a shipwreck off the Greek coast in June.

He took one of the deadliest migrant routes, hoping to save his cancer-stricken son

Listen · 4:22
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1184583494/1184620562" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Wednesday

A Tunisian artist is hoping to keep the memories of migrants alive

Mohsen Lihidheb stands in the backyard of his museum that is filled with things that he's collected after the waves brought them ashore in Zarzis, Tunisia. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Claire Harbage/NPR

World

A Tunisian artist is hoping to keep the memories of migrants alive

Artist Mohsen Lihidheb collects objects that wash ashore in Zarzis, Tunisia. His collection is a tribute to the migrants who died trying to cross the Mediterranean.

A Tunisian artist is hoping to keep the memories of migrants alive

Listen · 6:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1142797756/1144083031" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tuesday

Why Tunisians are now risking their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe

Fishermen in Zarzis, Tunisia, sometimes find bodies of people who have tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea to find better opportunities abroad. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Claire Harbage/NPR

Africa

Why Tunisians are now risking their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe

Twelve years after a revolution that overthrew a dictator Tunisians are leaving the country in droves in the midst of a socio-economic crisis and political instability.

Why Tunisians are now risking their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe

Listen · 11:12
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1142418932/1142418933" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

How a political standoff trapped hundreds of migrants at the Belarus-Poland border

Migrants stay in a tent camp near the Bruzgi checkpoint on the Polish border, on Wednesday. Leonid Shcheglov/Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA/TASS hide caption

toggle caption
Leonid Shcheglov/Leonid Shcheglov/BelTA/TASS

Europe

How a political standoff trapped hundreds of migrants at the Belarus-Poland border

The crisis appears to be stoked by the leader of Belarus over the country's tensions with the bloc. Polish border guards have used water cannons and tear gas to turn back stone-throwing migrants.

Saturday

Asylum-Seekers Make Harrowing Journeys In Pandemic, Only To Be Turned Back
Hokyoung Kim for NPR

World

Asylum-Seekers Make Harrowing Journeys In Pandemic, Only To Be Turned Back

Rights groups accuse nations of using COVID-19 as an excuse to shut out refugees. Here's one story of migrants who attempted a risky voyage across the Mediterranean, but Malta sent them back to Libya.

Asylum-Seekers Make Harrowing Journeys In Pandemic, Only To Be Turned Back

Listen · 8:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/949182773/967413260" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

Number Of Migrant Deaths In Mediterranean Fell In 2018

Migrants disembark in a port in southern Spain, after being rescued by a Spanish nongovernmental organization's rescue vessel in December. Spain saw an influx of migrants last year, as total migration across the Mediterranean fell. Olmo Calvo/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Olmo Calvo/AP

Europe

Number Of Migrant Deaths In Mediterranean Fell In 2018

Total migration to Europe has gone down substantially since its peak in 2015. Meanwhile, migration patterns have shifted, as Italy closes its ports amidst an increase in anti-immigrant populism.

Tuesday

Italy Wants Rescue Ship Seized, Accuses Doctors Without Borders Of Illegal Dumping

The rescue ship Aquarius, chartered by aid groups SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, leaves the harbor of Marseille, France, on Aug. 1. The ship has been docked at Marseille since September, when it lost its registration, and Italian authorities are demanding its seizure. Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty Images

World

Italy Wants Rescue Ship Seized, Accuses Doctors Without Borders Of Illegal Dumping

Doctors Without Borders, which operates the Aquarius, "strongly condemns" the request and says allegations of improperly disposed medical and other waste are "unfounded and sinister."

Thursday

Spain Now Sees More Migrant Arrivals Than Any Other European Country

A Spanish government relief worker plays with a young migrant child at a sports center in San Roque, southern Spain, after the child was rescued by Spain's Maritime Rescue Service in the Strait of Gibraltar on Aug. 1. Marcos Moreno/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Marcos Moreno/AP

World

Spain Now Sees More Migrant Arrivals Than Any Other European Country

Far more immigrants and asylum-seekers are crossing the Spanish border than those entering other usual Mediterranean entry points Greece and Italy.

Spain Now Sees More Migrant Arrivals Than Any Other European Country

Listen · 3:57
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/647526020/650373102" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Migrant Ship, With Italian Support, Will Make Dayslong Journey To Spain

Migrants wait to disembark from the rescue ship Aquarius in the Sicilian harbor of Catania, Italy, on May 27. This past weekend the ship picked up more migrants, but was turned away from ports in Sicily and the nearby country of Malta. Now it will head for Spain instead. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters hide caption

toggle caption
Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

World

Migrant Ship, With Italian Support, Will Make Dayslong Journey To Spain

Italy and Malta turned away the migrant rescue ship Aquarius, leaving it stranded in the Mediterranean for days. Now that Spain is accepting the ship, Italian and Maltese navies are assisting.

Monday

Italy And Malta Close Their Ports To Migrant Rescue Ship; Spain Takes It In

The Aquarius, a former North Atlantic fisheries protection ship now used by humanitarian groups SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), is seen in December 2017 during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea. The rescue ship was stranded this weekend after Italy and Malta refused to allow it to dock. Federico Scoppa/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Federico Scoppa/AFP/Getty Images

Europe

Italy And Malta Close Their Ports To Migrant Rescue Ship; Spain Takes It In

A rescue ship picked up more than 600 migrants off the coast of Libya, and was left stranded after Malta and Italy turned it away. Italy's new government has vowed a tougher stance on immigration.

Tuesday

Tuesday

Amnesty International: Europe Complicit In Libyan Migrant Abuses

African migrants sitting in a shelter at the Tariq Al-Matar migrant detention center on the outskirts of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Monday. Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Amnesty International: Europe Complicit In Libyan Migrant Abuses

European governments aiming to stem an exodus of refugees from Libya have been knowingly complicit in the abuse of would-be migrants held in detention centers there, says Amnesty International.

Wednesday

Sunday

Kerry: U.S. Will Take 100,000 Refugees A Year By 2017

Secretary of State John Kerry gestures Sunday during a news conference at Villa Borsig, Berlin, with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier about the ongoing crisis in Syria. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Evan Vucci/AP

The Two-Way

Kerry: U.S. Will Take 100,000 Refugees A Year By 2017

The secretary of state said the U.S. would ratchet up the number of migrants Washington accepts over the next few years to help the European Union deal with the ongoing crisis.

Dozens Of Migrants Feared Dead In Aegean Sea Boat Accidents

Syrian refugee woman cries by one of her children as she and family members arrive in an overcrowded dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast, on Saturday. Yannis Behrakis/Reuters/Landov hide caption

toggle caption
Yannis Behrakis/Reuters/Landov

The Two-Way

Dozens Of Migrants Feared Dead In Aegean Sea Boat Accidents

At least 13 refugees were killed when a ferry boat hit their dinghy and two dozen other are missing in after a boat sank off the Greek island of Lesbos.