The bodies were washed ashore by the undertow to the edge of the shoreline, where the waves break on the sand. These beaches are the kind photographed at sunset in tourist brochures, with the calm sea and fishing boats in the background. In February, however, the wind lashes your face and storm surges have transformed the coastline, leaving behind trash, seaweed, and, in recent days,a series ofnamelesscorpses. In Sicily and Calabria, the same scene has repeated itself for days: bloated bodies, dark clothes clinging to the skin, sometimes still with shoes on their feet, washed ashore by the currents after a crossing swallowed by the sea.
Reports speak of about fifteen bodies recovered—men and women, perhaps even minors—that washed ashore along the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria and on the beaches of western Sicily in just over ten days, during the violent Cyclone Harry. The sea has returned them one by one, in different places—people who set out on boats that vanished into the waves, never officially reported in a search-and-rescue operation, and who resurface only as the bodies that come to the surface.
Hurricane Harry did not shake people out of their indifference
In both regions, the stories are similar, even when the place names differ. In Calabria, along the Tyrrhenian coast between Scalea, Amantea, Paola, and Tropea, fishermen, residents, and even students looking out classroom windows have seen motionless figures floating in the sea, carried by the waves toward the shore. One of the most frequently cited cases involves a class that watched helplessly as the body approached, before the arrival of law enforcement officers called by the teachers.
In western Sicily, the death toll is even higher. In Trapani, Pantelleria, Marsala, Petrosino, San Vito Lo Capo, and even around the islet of Colombaia, ten bodies have been found along the shoreline or just offshore, washed ashore by currents following days of rough seas. In the very last few days, another body was reported further south, in the Pachino area, in the province of Syracuse, near Punta delle Formiche.
The total stands atfifteen bodiesrecovered between Sicily and Calabria in just over a week, but it is widely acknowledged that the official figure may remain an estimate. Some bodies are not immediately located, others remain trapped among the rocks, and still others are swept toward unmonitored areas; the possibility of linking all the discoveries to one or more shipwrecks depends on difficult investigations based on ocean currents, incomplete witness accounts, and reports from organizations that monitor the crossings.
Many of the boats carrying these victims were not reported in real time. The authorities did not open SAR investigations into specific incidents in every case, precisely because they did not always receive a Mayday call or a formal distress signal from the migrants or those monitoring them from shore. The term “ghost shipwreck,” which has been used repeatedly in recent news reports, refers precisely to this omission: boats that set sail from Tunisia or Libya and sink without any rescue coordination center launching a dedicated operation, and which are only reconstructed after the fact through the work of NGOs, alert networks, and a few survivors.
On the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the figures areeven more dramatic. Reports coming in from Tobruk and other parts of the Libyan coast describe dozens of bodies recovered after yet another capsizing of makeshift boats, either on the open sea or just a few miles from ports where the detention of foreigners takes place under conditions that have been documented for years as seriously violating human rights. In Tunisia, particularly in the Sfax area, families, through local associations, tell of relatives who boarded boats that vanished without a trace on the very days that bodies were washing up on Italian beaches.
Cyclone “Harry” brought strong winds and very rough seas to the route between North Africa and Italy, just as overloaded boats continued to set sail from the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, often captained by makeshift smugglers or the migrants themselves, who were forced to take the helm. Some investigations have gathered estimates suggesting that, between reported shipwrecks and boats that vanished without a trace, the wave linked to Harry may have caused around a thousand deaths and missing persons between the two shores of the central Mediterranean.
Fewer people are coming, and many more are dying
In the analyses conducted, themost striking paradoxis the discrepancy between the decline in officially recorded arrivals in Italy and the increase in the number of people losing their lives along the routes. Since the beginning of 2026, landings on Italian shores have been on the decline compared to the same period last year, but the number of victims and missing persons remains very high. There are reports of over 500 people dead or missing in the first forty days of the year in the central Mediterranean alone; the numbers demonstrate that the rescue crisis affects the entire border management system.
The arrival of bodies on Italian beaches is merely the clearest and most shocking manifestation of a process that has been evident for years—one involving the gradual dismantling of state-coordinated rescue operations, the replacement of protection with deterrence, and the notion that the sea itself can serve as a barrier against the movement of migrants. The system—based on memorandums with third countries, restrictions on civilian vessels, limits on disembarkations, and a reduction in the operational scope of state rescue units—creates a brutal selection process between those who manage to reach land and those who disappear along the route without ever having had a chance to be saved.
A new law that is even more dehumanizing
Around the same time in Rome, the government approved a bill that rewrites an entire chapter of Italy’s migration policy, with the stated aim of strengthening the fight against irregular immigration and bringing national legislation into line with new European rules on migration and asylum. On February 11, the Council of Ministers gave the green light to a bill bearing the signatures of Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi and Justice Minister Carlo Nordio. Theofficial statementrefers to “provisions on immigration and international protection, as well as provisions for the implementation of the European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum of May 14, 2024.”According toPrime Minister Giorgia Meloni, this is a “very significant measure to strengthen the fight against mass illegal immigration and human traffickers,” a step that builds on the decrees enacted over the past two years and signals a further tightening of controls on entry, detention, repatriation, and family reunification.
The billisstructuredinto two main sections. The first contains provisions set to take effect immediately following parliamentary approval, which directly amend the Consolidated Law on Immigration, the procedures for granting and revoking protection, the use of detention centers for repatriation, and the requirements for family reunification. The second consists of broad delegated authority to the government, which will have several months to adopt one or more legislative decrees to bring Italian law into specific compliance with the new European regulations and directives that make up the Pact on Migration and Asylum. This second part specifically concerns the rewriting of common procedures for examining applications, the regulation of reception conditions, and the incorporation into domestic law of new European instruments for managing returns and transfers between member states.
To hunt down and persecute
The bill strengthens enforcement powers in Italian territorial waters by expanding the rules on entry bans and granting the Minister of the Interior broader authority to restrict or prohibit entry to vessels deemed to be carriers of irregular immigration. The wording applies to commercial vessels and also implies civilian vessels engaged in rescue operations at sea. The text incorporates provisions already present in previous measures, which impose fines, administrative detentions, and entry bans on organizations involved in rescues when they carry out multiple interventions without immediately heading to the port designated by the authorities. The term “naval blockade” does not appear in the measure, but the combination of prohibitions, ministerial powers, and enforcement tools is increasingly hindering access to Italian waters for ships transporting migrants rescued at sea.
The border procedures that the bill systematically introduces are the tightest part of this system. The underlying idea is that anyone coming from a country classified as safe, or submitting an application deemed manifestly unfounded or abusive, will be channeled into an accelerated procedure to be carried out directly at the border crossing or in areas near the point of disembarkation, within a compressed timeframe, with the possibility of detaining the person in closed facilities for the entire duration of the process. The text introduces the so-called “unified decision,” a single act that combines the rejection of the application for protection with the return order, directly affecting the asylum procedure. This impacts the right to remain in the country and severely limits the capacity for effective legal challenge, especially when automatic suspension is not provided for and appeal deadlines are shortened. In other words, it redefines the balance of power between those seeking protection and those who decide their fate.
Longer stays in CPRs (Repatriation Centers)
The bill extends the duration of detention in closed facilities used for administrative detention. Those who are detained risk remaining in the CPRs for longer periods and having their detention extended through simpler procedures, even when repatriation faces obstacles. The new provisions allow authorities to keep individuals in custody until the conditions for their return to their country of origin are clarified.
At the same time, efforts are being made to strengthen cooperation and agreements with countries of origin to speed up the recognition and acceptance process; however, in many cases, migrants remain in detention centers for weeks or months awaiting repatriation, which depends on the political willingness of their countries of origin and often remains uncertain.
Within the CPRs, the new regulations also restrict the use of cell phones and prohibit unauthorized audio or video recording. For those detained, this further limits their ability to communicate with the outside world and to describe what happens inside these facilities, which numerous organizations describe as inhumane and humiliating places.
Less and less protected
Those arriving in Italy and seeking protection will face stricter rules, as the bill modifies the criteria for obtaining refugee status or subsidiary protection, bringing them into line with new European regulations—with the risk that many people’s asylum claims will be rejected more frequently. Even for those seeking a permit for special protection or on humanitarian grounds, the process becomes more difficult, as judges have less leeway to recognize situations of personal vulnerability or integration processes already underway in the country, with the result that more migrants are left without a valid residence permit and may face deportation orders.
The new rules on family reunification make it more difficult for many foreign workers to bring their family members to Italy. Applicants must demonstrate a higher income, provide more detailed evidence of suitable housing, and possess a greater knowledge of the Italian language, all of which play a decisive role in the overall assessment. Authorities may verify over time that these conditions remain unchanged, and failure to meet any of the requirements can lead to the revocation of the residence permit. As a result, many workers with low wages or unstable contracts remain separated from their families for years.
A prime example is the case of a family that was separated for twenty-two months due to a delay in the issuance of a family reunification visa, for which the Court of Rome ordered the government to pay compensation in 2025.
The measure also tasks the government with revising national legislation to bring it into line with the European Pact on Asylum and Migration. A border procedure accompanied by comprehensive biometric screening is being implemented, which includes identification, health checks, security screenings, and registration in European databases for those arriving without documents at the Union’s external borders. During this phase, in which the individual is already on EU territory but remains in a provisional legal status pending the initiation of the formal procedure, the collected data is entered into the EURODAC system. The solidarity mechanism among Member States allows governments to contribute funds or assistance for returns instead of receiving asylum seekers transferred from other countries, thereby keeping the burden concentrated on border countries, including Italy and Greece.
This has been compounded by the process of externalization, which over the years has increasingly shifted the management of departures and controls outside European territory; the Memorandum signed between Italy and Libya on February 2, 2017, is one of the most obvious examples of this. With the aim of stopping departures from the North African country’s coast, the agreement provides for financial support, patrol boats, and training for the Coast Guard. According to the organization Refugees in Libya, over 100,000 people have been intercepted at sea since 2017 and returned to Libyan detention centers—facilities where the United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission has documented torture, sexual violence, forced labor, and indefinite detention, and where in 2024 alone over 21,700 people reported abuse. In October 2025, despite motions to the contrary presented by nearly the entire opposition bloc, the Chamber approved the majority motion by a vote of 153 in favor, confirming the need for automatic renewal, which took place on February 2, 2026, four days before the last wave of shipwrecks linked to Cyclone Harry.
There is also another chapter, initiated by the protocol signed on November 6, 2023, between the Italian and Albanian governments, under which Italy was granted use of two areas on Albanian territory for five years: the port of Shengjin and the decommissioned military zone of Gjadër. Facilities have been built there to house adult men intercepted at sea who come from countries classified as safe. After initial identification at the port under Italian police control, migrants are transferred to Gjadër, where the actual detention center is located. Hearings are held via videoconference with lawyers who remain in Italy, and the first applications of the system have already led to appeals, such as when, in January 2025, a court in Rome ordered the transfer to Italy of forty-three migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh who had been taken to centers managed by Italy in Albania. The Italian government responded with a decree-law that reclassified the centers as full-fledged CPRs, temporarily addressing the legal issue without resolving it.
The Italian law approved by the government incorporates the European Pact on Migration and Asylum and, in some respects, pushes it to its limits, particularly regarding maritime borders and accelerated procedures. The message sent to those considering leaving North Africa makes it clear that the chances of entry and regularization are diminishing, while the risk of being turned away or returned is increasing.
The Logic of Deterrence
The institutional silence surrounding the images of bodies on our beaches stands in stark contrast to the precision of the press releases announcing new regulations and new enforcement measures. In the explanatory notes accompanying the laws and in the public statements of government officials, the word “life” appears, but always in reference to the supposed protection that would result from deterring departures. The government argues that preventing migrants from setting out on their journey means avoiding new shipwrecks, but statistics on deaths and missing persons at sea and accounts of the tragedies confirm that departures continue. The logic of deterrence is based on making the journey so risky and costly in terms of human lives as to discourage at least some departures, and on elevating mortality itself to a tool for managing migration flows. Testimonies from shipwreck survivors and family members remaining in North Africa make clear that the perception of risk is very much present among those who decide to leave, but that the combination of unsustainable living conditions in countries of origin or transit outweighs the fear of the sea.
Those arriving in Italy and seeking protection will face stricter rules, as the bill modifies the criteria for obtaining refugee status or subsidiary protection, bringing them into line with new European regulations—with the risk that many people’s asylum claims will be rejected more frequently. Even for those seeking a permit for special protection or on humanitarian grounds, the process becomes more difficult, as judges have less leeway to recognize situations of personal vulnerability or integration processes already underway in the country, with the result that more migrants are left without a valid residence permit and may face deportation orders.
PHOTO CREDITS – ANSA/Francesco Ceraudo. Steccato Beach in Cutro, Calabria, March 16, 2023. Nineteen days later, the sea continues to wash ashore personal belongings of the migrants and items linked to the tragedy that occurred on February 26.
A multimedia journalist, she documents stories from the front lines through international publications, podcasts, books, and photojournalism. For years, she has been dedicated to covering the Palestinian issue, human rights violations, and social injustices around the world.
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