Testimonies from Life Support on International Migrants Day

For many people, migration means facing violence, abuse, death.

In the central Mediterranean alone, over 28,000 people have disappeared since 2014 while attempting the crossing. At least 61 more people were victims of yesterday’s shipwreck off the coast of Libya, the latest we know of. And there are more deaths that no one knows about, people who have been forgotten in indifference.

A year ago, Life Support had just completed its first rescue. Since then, we have rescued 1,219 people, listened to their stories and their testimonies.

Facing a Europe of containment policies, of externalised borders, of “cooperation agreements” with states that are unsafe for those fleeing, our idea is simple: to be welcomed is a right, to save lives is a duty.

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