Rachel Sanderson, Columnist

Yachting Season in a War Zone Begins Again

The EU outsourcing border control to Libya helps make the Mediterranean the world’s deadliest migrant route.

April 15, 2024 at 4:00 AM UTC

By Rachel Sanderson

Rachel Sanderson is a contributor to Bloomberg Opinion. She was previously a columnist at the Financial Times.

The Mare Jonio ship of the NGO Mediterranean Saving Humans is seen before disembarking the migrants.
Photographer: SOPA Images/LightRocket

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Welcome to the Mediterranean in 2024. Millionaires in superyachts will be flocking to the sea’s azure waters, looking for calm and relaxation, blissfully unaware they’re traversing what may be the deadliest known migration route in the world. It’s more like a disputed front in a war zone, and there’s every sign the conflict is only going to escalate.

This month, as the Mediterranean yacht season starts for the world’s elite, the high season of migration for the world’s have-nots has opened with a bang. On April 4, Libyan authorities fired gunshots on an Italy-registered boat, Mare Jonio, which is used by the NGO Mediterranea to rescue migrants in difficulty seeking to cross to the Italian island of Lampedusa — the closest point in Europe from the coast of Libya.