key events timeline

• October 2016: Operation Triton replaces Mare Nostrum (a one year Italian humanitarian rescue program). Operation Triton is an EU border control operation which did not include Sea and Rescue operations (SAR), this gap was filled by NGOs.
• November 2014: Operation Sophia, an EU military operation on migration, begins training Libyan coastguards and navy. This means that more migrants will be stopped by the Libyan authorities as well as handed over to them and taken to Libya, preventing people from reaching the EU.
• December 2016: UN report documents widespread malnutrition, forced labor, illness, beatings, sexual abuse, torture, and other abuses in immigration detention centres in Libya.
• May 2017: Italian coast guards start transferring responsibility for rescues in international waters to Libyan coast guard forces even when there are other, better-equipped vessels, including its own patrol boats or Italian navy vessels, closer to the scene. This practice becomes routine
• May 2017: Libyan coast guard speedboat impedes rescue attempts of four NGOs by firing gunshots. This is one of many incidents with the Libyan coast guard reported by NGO rescue missions.
• July/August 2017: Italy pressures NGOs to sign a code of conduct. The code prohibits the standard practice of transferring rescued people to bigger ships and requires vessels to immediately return to an Italian port after rescuing one group. This extends the time needed for a single rescue operation from a few hours to multiple days and effectively make operations for small rescue boats without their own transporting capacities impossible. It also required NGOs to accept police officers on board.
• August 2017: MSF, Save the Children and Sea Eye suspend their SAR operations due to repeated intimidations and threats from Libyan coast guard vessels.
• August 2017: The Iuventa is the first boat to be seized.
• June 2018: Far-right politician Salvini takes over as Italy’s interior minister and barres the Aquarius, the Lifeline and Seefuchs from entering the country’s ports. This marks the beginning of Italy’s anti-immigration and closed-ports policy.
• June 2018: The President of the European Council sends “a clear message to all vessels, including those of NGOs, operating in the Mediterranean, that they must respect the law and must not obstruct the operation of the Libyan Coast Guard”.
• July 2018: International Maritime Organization recognizes a newly declared Libyan SAR zone, which hands over responsibility over Search and Rescue activities to Libyan authorities for a large area of international waters. Concerns over migrants’ and NGO crews’ safety increase.
• From 26th August until 12th September 2018 longest period with no NGO rescue boats since the beginning of civil SAR operations in 2015. The previous longest absence period was less than one month before.
• December 2018: Aquarius stops operations after Panama - pressured by Italy - revoked its flag and 24 staff members were put under investigation by Italian authorities for “illegal management of waste”.
• December 2018: Aquarius stops operations after Panama - pressured by Italy - revoked its flag and 24 staff members were put under investigation by Italian authorities for “illegal management of waste”. 
• January 2019: Two ships are blocked by the Spanish government by being denied permission to sail to the Central Mediterranean. In April, they are allowed to head to the waters between Greece and Turkey to deliver humanitarian aid goods, but still not allowed to rescue people or approach the Central Mediterranean.
• March 2019: Operation Sophia starts to rely on aeroplanes and the Libyan coast guard only and discontinues operations of all its own vessels on the water.
• August 2019: Italy’s “closed ports” policy is formalized. Rescue ships are barred from entering Italian territorial waters. Violation of the decree means fines of up to €1 million and seizure of the ship. Resistance to Italian security forces' attempts to block rescue ships from entering a safe harbour could be punished with up to ten years in prison.
• June 2019: Seizures and blockades of NGO rescue vessels becoming increasingly frequent, partly based on new Italian legislation.
• September 2019: Luciana Lamorgese replaces Salvini as Italian Minister of Interior. She gave some hope to SAR NGOs but has not overturned Italy’s anti-immigrant policies yet. On 27th January 2020 there are going to be regional elections for national legislative assembly in Italy and some fear Salvini winning in a historically leftwing region could propel him to prime minister.