SEA rescue organisations warned today that the number of deaths of migrants is set to rise a year after harsh new laws were passed by the right-wing Italian government.

The 22 organisations published a joint statement warning that more people drowned in the central Mediterranean in 2023 than the previous year.

Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Italian government introduced a new law last year that tried to reduce the presence of rescue ships off their shores, limit their capacity to carry out rescues and to block the arrival of migrants into Italy.