The Mediterranean remains one of the world's deadliest sea migration routes. During the first six months of 2026, at least 1,410 people died or went missing while attempting to reach Europe by sea, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since 2014, more than 35,000 people have lost their lives or gone missing while seeking safety, protection or a better life in Europe. To save migrants in distress at sea, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) deploy search and rescue (SAR) vessels in the Central Mediterranean but continue to face legal and administrative obstacles.

FRA’s latest update of search and rescue operations at sea provides an overview of the administrative and criminal proceedings affecting NGOs engaged in SAR activities: 

• At the end of June 2026, 26 NGO-operated rescue vessels and reconnaissance aircraft were deployed in the Central Mediterranean. 
• Since 2017, national authorities in EU Member States have initiated 105 administrative or criminal proceedings affecting NGO search and rescue operations. Since June 2025, 19 new cases have been opened, all in Italy.
• Many NGOs have faced fines and the temporary detention of their vessels in Italian ports. Port authorities have imposed administrative measures based on strict rules regulating NGO search and rescue activities. In one case, Italian authorities opened a criminal investigation into the captain of a deployed vessel for allegedly aiding and abetting unauthorised immigration.

The update emphasises two pressing fundamental rights issues requiring continued attention:

• Protecting humanitarian search and rescue activities: Member States should ensure that measures to combat migrant smuggling do not criminalise humanitarian assistance or undermine life-saving operations. A clear legal distinction must be maintained between humanitarian assistance and migrant smuggling.
• Strengthening search and rescue efforts and ensuring fundamental rights: Search and rescue capacity at sea needs to increase further to prevent deaths. Rescue operations should fully respect the principle of non-refoulement and ensure that rescued people are disembarked in places where their fundamental rights are protected.

This latest update provides an overview of developments up to 30 June 2026. It includes a map of NGO rescue vessels and reconnaissance aircraft, including those no longer in service. It also provides an overview of ongoing and concluded administrative and criminal proceedings affecting search and rescue organisations. 

As the world marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the continued loss of life in the Mediterranean highlights the need to ensure effective protection pathways and respect for the fundamental rights of people seeking safety.

In taking a brief overview the year 2025, the Ombudsman oversaw all Joint European Return Operations (JRO) in which the Hellenic Police took part and were coordinated by Frontex to Pakistan, Georgia and Bangladesh, as well as most national forced return operations on commercial flights to Egypt, India and Côte d’Ivoire. Meanwhile, inspections continued at detention facilities for third country nationals awaiting return, pre-removal detention centres (PROKEKA), at migration management departments, police stations, border protection departments and police directorates, whilst all individual files of third country nationals awaiting return were reviewed.

Many of us will face the moment when someone we love needs end of life care - whether in a care home, at home with support, or in a council-funded placement. How that care is delivered does not just affect the person who is dying: it shapes how their family grieves, and how they remember those final days, for years to come.

Mistakes made at the end of a loved one’s life cannot be corrected. But unlike almost any other public service failure, there is one chance to get it right, and the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is today calling on councils and care providers to take that opportunity, every time.

The report, No Second Chances: What Complaints Teach Us About End of Life Care, sets out the most common failures seen in the complaints it receives: poor communication with families, inadequate care plans, services not working together, insensitive handling of death notifications, difficulties around visiting, and unfair charges after death.

Real cases drawn from the ombudsman’s work illustrate the human cost of these failings - families not called in time to say goodbye, a daughter learning of her mother's death before anyone offered condolences, and a woman who discovered her cousin had died over a year earlier, her grave unmarked and overgrown.

The report sets out what families have a right to expect: to be kept informed as a loved one's condition changes; to be treated with warmth and honesty; to have the person they love cared for as an individual, with their own wishes and preferences respected. And when the worst happens, to receive the news with the sensitivity and compassion it deserves.

These things do not require significant extra resources or investment. They simply need more compassion and a human touch. These are acts of basic humanity, and they shape how families grieve for years to come.

Amerdeep Clarke, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

"Most of us will face the death of someone we love. How that experience unfolds – whether we feel informed, included and treated with kindness, or left confused and shut out – becomes part of how we remember that person and how we grieve them. Those memories do not fade.

"We know that the people working in care homes and councils want to do their best for the people they look after. This report is for them. It is a practical guide to help them ask honestly: could every family we work with look back on this time with as much comfort as possible?

"The changes we are asking for do not require significant new investment. They require compassion, good planning, and a genuine commitment to treating every dying person as a human being with people who love them. There is only one chance to get this right. We want to help the sector take it."

The report includes practical guidance and self-review questions for councils and care providers on end of life care.

The Ombudsman also has a free toolkit, to help care providers strengthen their complaints handling more generally. The toolkit can be downloaded from asctoolkit.lgo.org.uk.

El síndic de Greuges de la Comunitat Valenciana, Ángel Luna,  ha recomendado al Ayuntamiento de València que garantice el derecho de audiencia antes de bloquear cualquier título de transporte, después de investigar el caso de una estudiante universitaria que permaneció seis meses sin poder utilizar su Bono Oro de la EMT por una supuesta utilización fraudulenta que la Administración no ha logrado acreditar. La afectada tuvo que adquirir otro título de transporte para poder seguir desplazándose a la universidad durante el periodo de bloqueo.

Tras analizar el informe municipal, el Síndic concluye que no se ha acreditado en qué consistió el supuesto fraude ni qué comprobaciones realizó el conductor antes de bloquear la tarjeta. Tampoco consta que la usuaria pudiera presentar alegaciones antes de adoptarse una decisión que le perjudicaba.

Además, el propio Ayuntamiento explicó al Síndic que el procedimiento de la EMT prevé comunicar previamente la incidencia al usuario y concederle un plazo de quince días para formular alegaciones antes de decidir el bloqueo. Sin embargo, el Síndic ha comprobado que ese protocolo no se aplicó en este caso, ya que la comunicación remitida a la usuaria anunciaba directamente el bloqueo durante seis meses, sin ofrecer trámite de audiencia ni informar de los recursos que podía presentar.

Durante la investigación, el Ayuntamiento también confirmó que la EMT utiliza internamente una denominada «lista negra» para registrar los títulos sobre los que existen sospechas de fraude. El Síndic considera que esa denominación resulta inapropiada y desafortunada al referirse a un registro que contiene datos personales de los usuarios y recomienda sustituirla.

Respecto a la reclamación presentada por la afectada por los perjuicios sufridos, el Síndic considera que no resulta razonable obligar a la ciudadana a acudir de un organismo a otro entre el Ayuntamiento y la EMT para reclamar una posible indemnización derivada del funcionamiento de un servicio público cuya titularidad corresponde al propio Ayuntamiento.

Por todo ello, el Síndic recomienda al Ayuntamiento de València garantizar el derecho de audiencia antes de bloquear títulos de transporte, informar a los usuarios de los recursos disponibles frente a estas decisiones, resolver la reclamación por los daños ocasionados y eliminar la denominación «lista negra» de los registros internos de la EMT.