MSF's Oyvon Rescues 31 Migrants as Libyan Patrol Boats Reportedly Burn the Empty Vessel at the Scene

Médecins Sans Frontières said its rescue ship Oyvon pulled 31 people — including 6 women and girls and 12 minors, 9 of them unaccompanied, most from Eritrea — from a boat in distress in the central Mediterranean on Sunday, September 20, 2026. After everyone was safely aboard the Oyvon, the crew reported seeing Libyan patrol vessels arrive at the scene and set the now-empty migrant boat on fire. MSF project coordinator Chiara Milanese said 'we feared people would be pushed back to Libya,' where 'people rescued at sea should not be returned... [given] very serious risks including extortion, arbitrary detention, violence, and exploitation.' Italian authorities assigned Catania, Sicily as the disembarkation port. Libyan authorities did not comment on the incident.