Italy

In Italy, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) worked to support migrants and people on the move in several areas, in collaboration with local health authorities.

Over the last decade, Italy has become one of the main entry points to Europe for undocumented migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers arriving by sea. Whether departing from Libya or Tunisia, most experience extreme violence, abuse, and ill-treatment on this migration route.

Between February 2023 and July 2024, in northern Italy, MSF provided medical consultations, referrals, and information about other available services to hundreds of people waiting to cross into France. Most of these people were living in precarious conditions in unofficial settlements in the city of Ventimiglia, in the Liguria region.

Our activities in 2025 in Italy

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2025.

33

STAFF IN 2025 (FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT)

€2.7 M

2.7M

EXPENDITURE IN 2025

1999

YEAR MSF FIRST WORKED IN THE COUNTRY

MSF IN ITALY IN 2025 In Italy, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provides medical and psychological care to migrants arriving by sea, many of whom are undocumented and have suffered extreme violence during their journeys.

Throughout 2025, a mobile MSF team was in Agrigento, Sicily, to assist people who had crossed the central Mediterranean Sea by boat. Many people identified as vulnerable, such as people who survived torture or trafficking, people living with disabilities, pregnant women, unaccompanied children, and people with severe physical or mental health conditions, are transferred to reception centres on arrival. Our team provides medical consultations, referrals for specialised care, and psychological support to migrants hosted in these centres.

In Palermo, MSF delivers comprehensive care, combining medical and psychological rehabilitation with social and legal support, for migrants who have survived torture and intentional violence in Libya and along their journeys, in collaboration with the university hospital.

During the year, our teams in Agrigento and Palermo responded to several accidents and shipwrecks off the Sicilian coast by offering psychological first aid to survivors, and to victims’ families.

MSF volunteers continued to help migrants, asylum seekers, and marginalised people to access medical services in Palermo, Naples, Rome, Turin, Udine, Milan, and Bari, through dedicated helpdesks.