RESCUE

On a dead-calm morning in the Mediterranean, the migrant rescue ship of Doctors Without Borders spots a deflating rubber boat. Dozens of people are struggling in the water. Among the refugees is Roro, a Yemeni mother traveling with her husband, Hani, his son of 12, and their two-month-old baby.

As the rescue begins, a Libyan militia boat intervenes. Roro and the children, along with all women and children, are abducted. Hani is rescued, but left watching helplessly as his family is taken back to the country they risked everything to flee. Hani must step onto European soil alone. A family is violently torn apart across the Mediterranean.

RESCUE offers unprecedented access to the world’s largest rescue ship, Geo Barents, operated by Doctors Without Borders in the Mediterranean Sea. On board, the rescue team witnesses the devastating impact of the EU’s border policies, which funnel millions of euros into North African countries like Libya in an effort to halt migration across the Mediterranean.

Hani and Roro’s harrowing story unfolds as the central narrative thread. While Hani fights from Europe to reunite the family, Roro struggles to survive captivity in Libya and to protect the children. Trapped by a violent system deeply entangled with EU border politics, she relentlessly attempts to cross the sea again.

RESCUE is a gripping account of survival anchored by the strength of a young mother determined to bring her family back together and to seek the justice they were denied.