Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg’s ship Madleen has made a detour in the Mediterranean to pick up illegal migrants and bring them to Europe.
While sailing towards Gaza, to “break Israel’s siege”, she said, the activist mission reported on June 5 they had received a distress call from a boat, most likely leaving Libya for Italy.
MEP Rima Hassan, of the Left Group, who is one of the 12 activists sailing towards Gaza, said on social media that according to the European Border Agency Frontex, their vessel was the closest in the neighbourhood.
“We are changing direction for two short hours to get there and be able to rescue the boat. In yellow, our initial trajectory. In green, the direction we are currently taking,” Hassan informed her followers.
On vient de recevoir un appel de détresse, très probablement une embarcation qui partait de la Libye, selon frontex nous sommes les plus proches, on change de direction deux petites heures le temps d’y arriver et de pouvoir porter secours à l’embarcation.
En jaune notre… pic.twitter.com/oZeRjVXYCg— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) June 5, 2025
At the scene, they filmed a boat of the Libyan coast guard, closely passing a dinghy filled with people.
Hassan claimed that was an illegal intervention, aimed at sending back “exiled people” to Libya.
Rather than being picked up by the coast guard, four people jumped into the water, only to be “rescued” by Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla.
The four all said they came from Sudan, the group reported.
Hassan said that what she saw was “a forced return to Libya, a country widely recognised and unsafe”.
She added that it was “made possible by the European Union, which funds Libya with billions of euros to prevent refugees from reaching Europe, disregarding their fundamental rights”.
“Four of these people jumped into the sea, choosing to risk death rather than return to Libya, where violence, rape, torture and other inhumane treatments awaited them,” she said.
— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) June 5, 2025
Hassan called for help to convince the Greek Coast Guard to transfer the four they picked up to Greece.
She urged her followers to post her story widely and tag Vassilis Kikilias, the Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy.
The progressive activists, including Thunberg and actor Liam Cunningham, known for his role in the hugely popular TV series Game of Thrones, were originally en route to Gaza to bring humanitarian aid.
Sources from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition claimed two of the staff on board the Madleen were trained in search-and-rescue operations, Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera said.
Israel already indicated it would not allow the passage of the Madleen.
A senior Israeli defence source told the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post that if the activists disobeyed orders from the Israeli military, their ship could be seized and they could face arrest.
