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  • The Global Sumud Flotilla is intercepted by the Israeli navy 1,100 km from Israel

    The Global Sumud Flotilla is intercepted by the Israeli navy 1,100 km from Israel

    30 April 2026 – 1,100 km from Gaza, in international waters within the Greek SAR zone, Israeli forces intercepted and forcibly boarded at least 21 vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla, in which Open Arms has been participating since April 15.

    The vessels were threatened with automatic weapons, some were left adrift after their engines were disabled, and interference was reported in emergency communications and navigation systems, causing loss of contact with part of the flotilla.

    Despite being in an area of European responsibility and having issued distress signals, no rescue mechanisms were activated. What happened constitutes a serious violation of international maritime law.


    At this moment, the Open Arms is carrying out search and rescue operations for the vessels left adrift.

    Open Arms demands:

    • – Immediate restoration of communications
    • – Safety guarantees for all vessels
    • – Activation of search and rescue protocols
    • – An end to any action that puts the flotilla at risk
  • On 14 April, we presented our book at the European Parliament and brought rescue to the heart of the debate

    On 14 April, we presented our book at the European Parliament and brought rescue to the heart of the debate

    Brussels, 14 April 2026 — Open Arms took part in the European Parliament hearing “Mediterranean: Restarting from the people”, promoted by MEP Nicola Zingaretti, within the framework of the future Pact for the Mediterranean.

    In this space, the organisation brought its direct experience at sea after more than ten years of rescues in the central Mediterranean, in a context in which deaths continue to rise despite a decrease in departures.

    Open Arms called for people to be placed back at the centre of European policies, with concrete measures such as a European search and rescue mission, safe and legal pathways, and an end to practices that violate international law.

    In the same framework, and on the occasion of its tenth anniversary, the organisation presented the book Open Arms. A Mission Against the Current, which brings together ten years of rescues, testimonies and first-person stories. The volume has also been added to the European Parliament Library, as part of an exercise in memory and a direct appeal to the European institutions.

    Because saving lives should not be a political choice, but an obligation.

  • El Open Arms se une a la Global Sumud Flotilla. Zarpará el 12 de abril desde Barcelona.

    El Open Arms se une a la Global Sumud Flotilla. Zarpará el 12 de abril desde Barcelona.

    Open Arms will head to Gaza with the Global Sumud Flotilla. It will set sail on April 12 from Barcelona.

    Because the tragedy has not ended. It has only stopped making headlines.

    The siege continues, even as the world looks the other way. What is happening is not just a conflict: it is the sustained suffering of a civilian population trapped with no way out.

    In March 2024, we opened a maritime humanitarian corridor when it seemed impossible.
    Despite being coordinated, we had to suspend the mission after an attack that killed seven humanitarian workers.

    We promised not to forget Gaza. Because ignoring what is happening does not make it any less real.
    Because when governments remain silent, civil society must act.

    Open Arms will set sail with the Global Sumud Flotilla.
    Not only to bear witness.
    But to act.
    Once again.

    SUPPORT THE MISSION
  • 10 YEARS OF OPEN ARMS: AN EVENT AGAINST THE CURRENT

    10 YEARS OF OPEN ARMS: AN EVENT AGAINST THE CURRENT

    Open Arms commemorates 10 years of commitment to life and human rights with an event in Barcelona

    Badalona, September 2025 – Ten years have passed since Open Arms took its first step in the Mediterranean, when a small group of lifeguards decided to help in response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding on the shores of Lesbos. What began as an urgent and voluntary act in September 2015 soon became a collective movement that has saved more than 72,000 lives at sea and has defended the dignity of people, with a firm commitment to human rights and against hatred.

    To mark this anniversary, Open Arms will host an event on September 29 at the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona—an occasion that is not meant to be a celebration, but rather a collective act of remembrance, commitment, and advocacy.

    The evening will include a commemorative dinner and a unique artistic performance by La Fura dels Baus. The event will be hosted by journalist and presenter Marc Giró, and will bring together artists and prominent figures from the worlds of culture, sports, and research who have accompanied the organization over the years, among them Rozalén, Rigoberta Bandini, and Joan Manuel Serrat, as well as representatives of allied entities and organizations that have walked alongside Open Arms throughout this journey.

    Ten years ago, everything began with a simple, necessary, and radical gesture: refusing to look away. Since then, thousands of people, organizations, and leading figures from the worlds of culture and civil society have joined our mission. This event is for all of them,” explains Oscar Camps, founder of Open Arms.

  • Open Arms assists nearly a thousand people in the midst of a humanitarian emergency in the central Mediterranean

    Open Arms assists nearly a thousand people in the midst of a humanitarian emergency in the central Mediterranean

    After disembarking 70 people in the port of Lampedusa on Friday night, the tugboat Open Arms, with 195 people on board, set course for Brindisi, a new disembarkation port assigned by the Italian authorities due to adverse weather conditions, where we disembarked on Sunday.

    Meanwhile, on the night from Wednesday to Thursday, our sailboat Astral rescued 2 small metal boats, with a total of 62 people on board, including several medical cases and a woman in an advanced state of pregnancy and in labor, whom we eventually disembarked in Lampedusa in the early hours.

    Astral set sail again on Friday afternoon and during the night, after 3 complex rescue operations of very precarious drifting iron vessels, disembarked another 136 people in Lampedusa, including 35 women—one of them pregnant—and 4 children.

    In total, the teams of Astral and Open Arms assisted and rescued 985 people in the central Mediterranean over the past two weeks.

    In recent days, we have also come across small empty dinghies without being able to ascertain whether the people on board had been rescued or not. This is another indication that the situation in the central Mediterranean is becoming increasingly critical.

    It is therefore essential for the Italian authorities to once again assign closer disembarkation ports, so that it is possible to reach the SAR zone as quickly as possible to protect lives and prevent even more innocent victims.

    With very limited resources but a great deal of determination, we have rescued over 68,000 people so far, yet the sea continues to claim innocent lives.

     

    Photos: Matias Chiofalo / Anna Surinyach