de-A monitoring boat in Lampedusa

For a welcoming and support network in the Central Mediterranean: 

On land and now also at sea - Maldusa is a project to support the freedom of movement and to accompany, to investigate and to document: with a station in Palermo, with a second station on Lampedusa and soon with a fast boat operative in the central Mediterranean, based in Lampedusa.

Named "Maldusa", our small motorboat arrived in Lampedusa at the beginning of December; the crew is currently preparing it and has already started initial trainings. The purchase of the boat was largely co-financed by United4Rescue. The Maldusa boat should be ready for use in stand-by mode next year, adding another asset to the civil fleet in the central Mediterranean.

Because time and time again, we have to witness that, when refugees and migrants are in distress at sea on their way to Lampedusa, the Maltese and Italian gouvernaments regularly fail to provide assistance, also organizing illegal push back to Libya. This is absolutely unacceptable.

With its presence at sea, Maldusa wants to try to intervene in such situations, accompany "People on the Move" and amplify the visibility of the autonomy of migration.

If necessary, rescue operations will be carried out, but the primary aim is to support existing forms of self-organisation by the people on the boats and to urge the European coastguards to carry out their rescue duties.

Since September 2022, Maldusa has established a station for border-monitoring and to support people reaching Lampedusa after a sea crossing. A social centre was opened in Palermo in April 2023. The set-up of the two stations was supported by medico international and Pro Asyl.