A ferry ride to Lipari, Sicily. Lipari is the largest of Italy’s Aeolian Islands.
Sicily, Italy
In 2025, Anna spent her summer studying the topic of migration, human rights and the media in Siracusa, a small city in Sicily, Italy.
Italy —Sicily in particular— is a major hotspot for Europe’s migration crisis, serving as a primary entry point from North Africa for asylum seekers and migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
The Coast Guard’s largest aircraft (above) was repurposed from a commercial airplane.
The Italian Coast Guard operates search and rescue missions for migrant boats traveling in the central Mediterranean sea nearly everyday in the summer.
Since 2015, many European countries have halted sea rescue operations of migrant boats in the Mediterranean, leaving NGOs and the Italian Coast Guard scrambling to fill the gap.
Floating devices stored in the Coast Guard’s largest aircraft are thrown into the water from 100 meters or so above the ocean.
The Coast Guard’s main aircraft used in search and rescue operations the helicopter. Though it has a battery life of just 2.5 hours and can only hold 4-5 passengers at a time, it can fly within a few meters of the water— close enough to people in a boat.
More from Sicily
Locals gather to protest in support of Palestine. Several humanitarian aid missions, notably the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s Madeleen vessel which activist Greta Thunberg was on, departed from Sicily.
Sicily is home to thousands of cats, and national laws are in place to protect them. Locals frequently leave out food for the felines.
Motorcycles and Vespa scooters are common in the narrow streets of Sicily. Piazza Duomo in Siracusa, Sicily
Morocco on film
An Amazigh boy plays with his goats.Al Attarine Madrasa in FezFlag of Morocco (above) and flag of the Amazigh people (below), the indigenous people of North Africa sometimes called Berber people.View of Tinghir
Anna Adamson 