In this episode, we speak with Lorenzo D'Agostino, a journalist who took part the Global Sumud Flotilla's civilian-led mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

He tells us about joining sailing from Barcelona towards Gaza, how its boats came under repeated drone attacks, and how the activists were eventually intercepted and kidnapped by the Israeli Navy.

Lorenzo tells us how, once in Israel, his captors treated them all like terrorists and subjected them to torture, before deporting them to Turkey. We also hear how most European governments totally failed to stand up for their citizens.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

Join me at the Manchester Anarchist Bookfair, see here: https://bookfair.org.uk

--- Show notes ---

For more on the Global Sumud Flotilla, see the group's website here: global-sumudflotilla.com

Follow Lorenzo D'Agostino on:

Twitter: @lorenzodago

Instagram: lo_dago

And on TikTok: lorenzodago

Check out his website here: lorenzodagostino.com

Check out episode 19 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more from Lorenzo

Want to know what Lorenzo and I were doing in Trappani, Sicily, last January? Then check out episode 54.

For more on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, see here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/american-workers-rights-activist-chris-smalls-beaten-by-israeli-soldiers/

Read this CBS report on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly approving the bombings of Family and Alma ship in Tunisia: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/netanyahu-drone-attacks-gaza-aid-boats-tunisia/

For more on Palestine Action, see here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/the-civil-fleet-podcast-stands-with-palestine-action/

Ben mentions the Libyan Coastguards firing on the Ocean Viking refugee rescue ship and the Italy navy failing to help. Check out episode 80 for more on that.

You can read a farcical (and now deleted) article on an Israeli government website claiming the Global Sumud Flotilla was organised by Hamas, here: https://web.archive.org/web/20251001154325/https://govextra.gov.il/mda/march-to-gaza/the-hidden-networks-behind-the-global-sumud-flotilla/

Ben mentions The World Transformed Festival. Read about that here: https://theworldtransformed.org/

You can read Lorenzo's article addressed to the Israeli people, here: https://x.com/lorenzodago/status/1973516145350287812

Read about Saleh al-Jafaraw, the latest (as of this recording) journalist killed by the Israeli military, here: https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/tributes-pour-palestinian-journalist-killed-after-gaza-ceasefire

In this episode, we speak with Patrick, a search and rescue worker on SOS Mediteranee's ship the Ocean Viking.

Patrick is going to tell us about the Libyan Coastguard's attack on the Ocean Viking in August this year.

The tells us how the EU-funded Libyan Coastguards circled the ship and peppered it with bullets at head and chest height. There were 80 rescued people on the ship, including unaccompanied children. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Despite their attack on a European-flagged ship, the EU has said it will continue to fund and work with the Libyan Coastguards.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

For more on SOS Mediterranee, see their website here: sosmediterranee.org

Follow SOS Mediterranee on social media:

BlueSky: @sosmediterranee.org‬

Insta: SOS MEDITERRANEE

Twitter: @SOSMedIntl

You can watch a clip of Libyan Coastguards firing on Ocean Viking here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BRP_MIIGeU

Also, listen to episode 75 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on SOS Mediterranee.

For more on Sea-Eye, check out episode 10; Sea-Watch, see episodes 70, 65, 43, 22, 7 and 1, and SOS Humanity, listen to episodes 55 and 31 of The Civil Fleet Podcast.

For more on Italy's distant ports policy, see episodes 71 with ResQShip, and 69, with SeaPunks.

For more on the Libyan Coastguards, see here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Libyan-Coastguard/

Read about the EU dismissing the civil fleet's calls to stop funding Libyan Coastguard after the shooting, here: https://euobserver.com/migration/ar9ad7ff4f (Unfortunately, it's behind a paywall...)

For more on the Manchester Anarchist Bookfair, see here: https://bookfair.org.uk

In this episode, we speak with human rights campaigner and Refugees in Libya co-founder David Yambio.

He gives us an update on Refugees in Libya's Unfair campaign, which demands the UNHCR change the way it treats people in need of its protection.

He tells us about the Book of Shame — which he and his fellow Refugees in Libya campaigners co-wrote with members of Refugees in Tunisia and Refugees in Niger.

He tells us how the book outlines the UNHCR's failures to protect people-on-the-move, in North Africa.

David also tells us how he found out that the Italian state used an Israeli spy firm to tap his phone and spy on him.

--Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

For more on Refugees in Libya, see: https://www.refugeesinlibya.org

You can read the Book of Shame here: https://www.refugeesinlibya.org/book-of-shame

Check out episode 29 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more with David Yambio

Read this interview with David Yambio on The Civil Fleet blog from when he was living in Libya: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2021/12/16/the-eu-must-be-held-accountable-for-the-crimes-it-has-committed-against-people-trying-to-reach-its-borders/

For more on the EU's support for the Libyan Coastguards despite its fears of human rights abuses, read this: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/02/21/eu-to-continue-supporting-the-libyan-coastguard-despite-its-fears-of-human-rights-abuses

In this episode we speak with Aleksandra from Grupa Granica, a refugee support coalition working at the Poland-Belarus border, and Ola, a member Szpila, an anti-repression feminist collective based in Warsaw.

They are going to tell us about the trial of a man called Bartek, who, in October 2024, provided humanitarian assistance to a young Somali man who wanted to apply for asylum in Poland.

However, the border guards pushed the Somali man back to Belarus without lodging his asylum application.

When Bartek told the guards that he would file a complaint against them and inform the media of their actions, they accused him of trying to "influence the official duties of the border guard," and even of threatening them.

The court is expected to give its verdict in the case on September 26. We'll try to get an update for you as soon as we can. Keep an eye on The Civil Fleet's blog.

Ola and Aleksandra are going to tell us all about the situation at Poland's border with Belarus for people on the move, and how the government has suspended the right to claim asylum at the Belarus border.

--Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

For more on Szpila, see their website here: https://szpila.noblogs.org/english

For more on Grupa Granica, see their website here: https://www.sklepbezgranic.pl/en_US/index

Or follow them on Facebook: facebook.com/grupagranica

For more on Grupa Granica, check out episode 64 of The Civil Fleet Podcast

Read Szpila's June 2025 report on the criminalisation of solidarity here: https://szpila.noblogs.org/criminalizing-solidarity-report-on-anti-repression-efforts/

Check out episode 33 of The Civil Fleet Podcast for more on Belarus from the Lithuanian side of the border.

And check out The Civil Fleet's stories on Belarus here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Belarus/

For more on Poland suspending asylum claims for people crossing the border from Belarus, see here: amnesty.org/en/documents/eur37/9322/2025/en/

For more on We Are Monitoring, check them out here: https://wearemonitoring.org.pl/en/home/

For more on the US and Hungarian governments designating Antifa as a terrorist organisation, see here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/20/hungary-urges-eu-to-designate-antifa-as-a-terrorist-group

We speak with Manon and Camille, two activists with F.Lotta - a horizon network organising protests across Europe this weekend and the central Mediterranean, demanding free movement for all and an end to fortress Europe's murderous policies.

Camille and Manon tell us how and why F.Lotta was formed, about all the different campaigns taking part in the continent-wide protests, and how they hope the protests will show that a different world is possible.

--Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

For more on F.Lotta, see their website here: https://flotta.noblogs.org/

Follow them on Instagram: f.lotta_

For all campaigns involved with F.Lotta, see here: https://flotta.noblogs.org/campaigns

You can see F.Lotta's map of action this weekend here: https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/de/map/flotta-public-map_1261555#6/37.099/14.843

For more on Operation Sophia, see here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2020/02/21/eu-to-continue-supporting-the-libyan-coastguard-despite-its-fears-of-human-rights-abuses/

For more on the deaths in the Channel this week, read here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/english-channel-small-boat-sinking-children-b2823719.html

For more on the attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla, read this:https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/09/10/activists-vow-to-sail-to-gaza-despite-second-drone-attack-on-its-ships/

In this episode, we speak with Jeff Crisp, formerly of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and now part of the campaign group United Against Inhumanity (UAI).

He tells us how and why UAI was set up, how it is trying to get European governments to treat people-on-the-move humanely, and about the organisation's recently published manifesto: Stop the Inhumanity at Europe's Borders.

We also discuss the far-right's anti-asylum-seeker protests in the UK, Italy's failed deportation deal with Albania, and the US's similar deals with countries in Africa and Latin America.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

Follow Jeff Crisp on Twitter, via @JFCrisp

Find United Against Inhumanity's website here: against-inhumanity.org

Read UAI's manifesto here: https://www.against-inhumanity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/manifesto-short-version-2.pdf

Read Jeff's article on why refugees are going hungry across the world: https://www.against-inhumanity.org/2025/08/19/worlds-refugees-hungry/

Read Jeff's New York Times on Trump's offshoring policy here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/opinion/migration-deportation-sudan-trump.html

Or get around the NYT's paywall here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hz23t1zKeIbQxFZqG1dLkR-cDQ_Hiie29yKrhQcF6NA/edit?tab=t.0

Here's the article Jeff speaks about on why some refugees don't stay in France: https://www.against-inhumanity.org/2023/05/05/asylum-seekers-crossing-the-english-channel-why-dont-they-stay-in-france-by-marie-leveille/

Ben mentions a bunch of other people and organisations that have been on the podcast before. For more on:

Open Arms, see episodes 30 and 13

No Name Kitchen, see episodes 59, 58, 51, 41, and 6

MSF, see episodes 21 and 14

Alarm Phone, see episodes 5 and 3

Frontex, see episodes 68, 54, 52, 50, 34, 31, 23, 15, 7 and 1

Tunisia, see episode 48

Gaza, see episode 67

Pylos disaster, see episodes 60 and 52

I can't find the comedian I mentioned in this episode about immigrants being the true patriots. I thought it was Doug Standhope, but it's not.

For more on the UK government's banning of Palestine Action, see here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/the-civil-fleet-podcast-stands-with-palestine-action/

As usual, Ben butchers a famous phrase in this episode. The phrase often misattributed to Italian communist Antonio Gramsci is "Pessimism of the intellect. Optimism of the will."

In this episode, we speak with Lucille, operation communications manager for SOS Mediterranee.

She tells us how the Ocean Viking's crew found 25 people adrift in the Mediterranean Sea by chance in March 2024. The survivors told Lucille that they had left Libya five or six days ago with around 60 people. Most of them didn't survive.

A serious incident report published quietly by Frontex in May this year corroborates the survivors' accounts, that their boat was spotted by planes and commercial ships, but no rescue was launched.

The Frontex report also admits that its own failures — as well as those of the Libyan, Maltese and Italian maritime authorises — "likely" breached the fundamental right to life of those who died.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

For more on SOS Mediterranee, see their website here: sosmediterranee.org

Follow SOS Mediterranee on social media:

BlueSky: @sosmediterranee.org‬

Insta: SOS MEDITERRANEE

Twitter: @SOSMedIntl

You can download Frontex's serious incident report 13681 / 2024 here: https://tinyurl.com/4bhb495d

Find the full Frontex report on The Civil Fleet's website, too: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/08/08/episode-75-frontex-likely-breached-refugees-right-to-life/

For more on SOS Mediterranee's old ship, the Aquarius, read this: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/07/dark-day-migrant-rescue-ship-aquarius-ends-operations-mediterranean

For more on Doctors Without Borders (MSF), see episodes 67, 21 and 14 of The Civil Fleet Podcast

For more on Frontex, the European Border and Coastguard Agency, check out episodes 68, 54, 52, 50, 34, 31, 23, 15, 7 and 1

For more on Malta, see episodes: 74, 72, 37, 27, and 5

For more on Seabird, check out episodes: 65 and 1

Alarm Phone activists are interviewed in episodes: 48, 5 and 3

You can read Alarm Phone's account of all this, here: https://alarmphone.org/en/2024/09/27/denial-of-rescue-85-people-left-to-die-in-march-2024/

Oh, and Ben mentions the episode with Nadir, ResQship's rescue ship. That is episode 71. Also, check out episode 27 for more on the Nadir.

We speak with Silvia from the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, or PICUM.

She tells us about a report she wrote for PICUM on the criminalisation and non-judicial harassment of people-on-the-move and activists working in solidarity with them in Europe last year.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

For more on PICUM, see: picum.org

You can read the PICUM report talked about in this episode here: https://picum.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Criminalisation-of-migration-and-solidarity-in-the-EU-2024-report.pdf

Follow PICUM on social media:

Bluesky: @picumofficial.bsky.social‬

Twitter: @picum_ngo

Instagram: picum_ngo

Silvia mentioned former Green Party MEP Majid Majid. For more on him, see here: magicmagid.com

Ben mentions migrants rights campaigner Zoe Gardner. See episodes 73 and 38 of The Civil Fleet Podcast to hear from her.

Read this report from the Irish Times on the anti-migrant protests blighting Ireland recently; https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/dublin/2025/04/26/anti-immigration-protest-marking-easter-rising-gathers-crowds-in-dublin/

Ben mentions previous episodes of The Civil Fleet Podcast with people-on-the-move who have been criminalised in Greece, Italy and Malta. Here are some of the episodes:

Episode 56 focuses on the Homayoun Sabetara case

Episode 53 features Nadia, a Lebanese refugee whose husband was accused of smuggling

Hanad Abdi Mohammad, a Somalian refugee who was sentenced to 142 years behind bars for supposedly captaining a boat across the Aegean, talks to us in episode 35

Check out episode 29 to hear from South Sudanese human rights campaigner Yambio David Oliver

Listen to episode 37 to hear about the El Hiblu 3

Silvia mentions No Name Kitchen. For more on them, see episodes: 63, 59, 58, 51, 41 and 6

For more on the Iuventa case, listen to episodes 54, 24, and 2

Silvia mention Francesca Cancellaro. Check out episode 36 to hear from here, and the Iuventa case

Read this for more on Italy's detention of the refugee rescue ship Nadir: resqship.org/en/statement-piantedosi

Ben makes reference to the British government banning a non-violent protest group banned by the British government. For more on that, see here: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2025/07/05/the-civil-fleet-podcast-stands-with-palestine-action/

For more on the Kinsa case, see kinsa-case.eu/the-case-kinsa

In this episode, migrants rights campaigner Zoe Gardner tells us why the UK Home Office should be dismantled.

In a report she recently wrote for the Green Party, Zoe says the controversial department should be split up into two new ministries.

We talk about the Home Office's acts of cruelty to migrants, refugees and people on the move, and how government policy of housing asylum seekers in unfit accommodation has created a billionaire.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

You can follow Zoe on Twitter here: @ZoeJardiniere

And on Bluesky here: @zoejardiniere.bsky.social‬

Read the report, No Way Home? It is time to remove management of immigration from the Home Office here: https://carladenyer.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/no-way-home-web.pdf

Zoe Gardner was last on The Civil Fleet Podcast in 2023. We spoke about UK's Illegal Migration Bill. Check out episode 38 for that

For more on the Windrush Scandal, see episode 39 of The Civil Fleet Podcast with filmmaker Sonita Gale

For more on the government removing the right to claim British citizenship from people who cross the Channel in small boats, see here: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d5wj9l8e2o

For more on the previous British government's plans to deport people to Rwanda, see episodes 62, 57, 49, 40, 38, 32, and 25

For more on Clearsprings Ready Homes, check out episode 40 with Corporate Watch.

And read this story on the numbers of asylum seekers dying in Britain's Home Office Accommodation: https://thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/2024/04/30/at-least-40-people-died-in-home-office-asylum-seeker-accommodation-in-2023/

Here's the book Zoe recommended, called Wreckonomics: Why it's time to end the war on everything. You can find that here: http://rubenandersson.com/wreckonomics. (Please don't buy it, or anything else, from Amazon)

Check out episode 49 to hear an interview with Paul O'Connor, then senior national officer at the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union

For more on the situation in Greece, check out episodes: 68, 60, 56, 53, 52, 50, 35, 34, 28, 26, 18, 9 and 4

In this episode, we speak with academic Cetta and foreign policy analyst Daniel about the Malta Migration Archive.

We discuss the Maltese government's refusal to save refugee lives in its own search-and-rescue zone, how it ignores civilian rescue ships, pressurises commercial ships to not rescue refugees, and how it organises pushbacks with the so-called Libyan coastguards.

Cetta and Daniel tell us how the Malta Migration Archive maps all of this, and why it is so important to expose and combat the Maltese government's silence.

---Get in touch---

Twitter: @FleetCivil

Mastodon: @[email protected]

Bluesky: @thecivilfleet.bsky.social

Instagram: thecivilfleet

[email protected]

civilfleet.com

--- Show notes ---

Check out the Malta Migration Archive here: maltamigrationarchive.org

Follow them on Blue Sky on @maltamigrationarchive.org‬

And on Twitter on @MigrationMalta

Cetta mentions the El Hiblu 3 – three young men who Malta arrested on terrorism charges after they helped prevent a push back to Libya. For more on that, check out episode 37 of The Civil Fleet Podcast

Daniel mentions the rescue organisation Mission Lifeline. For more on them, see here: thecivilfleet.wordpress.com/tag/Mission-Lifeline

Check out episodes 48, 5 and 3 for more on Alarm Phone.

Episodes 70, 65, 43, 22, 7 and 1 feature interviews with Sea-Watch activists

Cetta mentions the Tuna-pen Incident. For more on that, see here: https://timesofmalta.com/article/international-shock-over-tuna-pen-incident.16311

She also mentions the Civil Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (CMRCC). Check them out here: https://civilmrcc.eu/

Episodes 65 and 1 are focused on Sea-Watch's reconnaissance planes Seabird. Have a listen when you can.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) get mention in the episode, and they're the focus of episodes 67, 21 and 14.

Listen to episodes 47 and 18 to hear more about how commercial shipping has been affected by Malta's refusal to take in people on the move.

Ben mentions the Dublin Agreement. Check out this explainer video by The Guardian newspaper for more on that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ooecJWPcAY&t=28s&ab_channel=TheGuardian

Ben also mentions Doro, and the book about him. You can buy the book here: unbound.com/books/doro/

Listen to episode 43 for an interview with co-author and Sea-Watch activist Brendan Woodhouse.

Ben suggests that governments have never really respected international law. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BXtgq0Nhsc&ab_channel=Chomsky%27sPhilosophy

David Yambio, South Sudanese human rights activist and founder of Refugees in Libya, is interviewed in episode 29.