Between 2023 and the first half of 2025, the German government allocated approximately 5 million euros, about 2 million per year, to non-governmental organizations conducting rescue missions in the Mediterranean. The funding was approved during the legislative term led by Social Democrat Olaf Scholz and was supported in particular by then-Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens. The commitment to support Mediterranean missions was already included in the 2019 coalition agreement. The new government led by Friedrich Merz has discontinued these allocations.

The main German NGOs operating in the Mediterranean fall under United4Rescue, the alliance that received the state funding. The organization's financial reports indicate that in 2023 and 2024, 200,000 euros per year were allocated to the Sea Watch 5 vessel, with an additional 200,000 euros in 2025. In 2022, United4Rescue contributed 200,000 euros toward the purchase of the same vessel. Other documented funding includes 100,000 euros to SOS Humanity in 2024, 465,000 euros for the purchase of the Sea-Eye 5 vessel also in 2024, and 200,000 euros to Sea-Eye 4 in 2023 for maintenance work. In the first quarter of 2025, 10,000 euros were additionally allocated to an association of lawyers assisting migrants who landed in Italy, while a similar project received 30,000 euros in the 2024-25 period. United4Rescue has also received funding from private donors.

According to data provided by United4Rescue, the alliance's vessels have rescued approximately 13,000 people since 2020. The organization's spokesperson, Sasha Ockenden, stated that in the context of returns under the Dublin Regulation, the flag flown by a rescue vessel is irrelevant, and that after disembarkation it is the responsibility of states to initiate asylum procedures. Ockenden further stated that the alliance's vessels coordinate with European authorities to bring survivors to the assigned port, generally in Italy.

The funding issue is intertwined with the dispute between Italy and Germany over the application of the Dublin Regulation. Germany intends to return to Italy migrants who landed on Italian coasts and subsequently transited through German territory. The Italian government in December 2022 had suspended new intake arrangements until the entry into force of the new European migration pact, which occurred on June 12, 2025. The Italian Interior Ministry indicated that from June 12 there must be a compensation between migrants returning to Italy from other European states and those landed by NGO vessels flying those countries' flags.

The NGO Sea Watch stated that it has never received direct funding from the German government, specifying that the funds came from United4Rescue, an organization that in turn received state subsidies. The organization reiterated that rescuing people at sea is an obligation and not a political choice. SOS Humanity, which did not deny having previously benefited from state subsidies through United4Rescue, announced an increase in the number of vessels operating in the Mediterranean.

The debate over the role of German public funding to NGOs and its compatibility with Italian migration policies remains open. The new German government has chosen to discontinue the allocations, while the organizations involved defend the legitimacy of rescue operations and contest the Italian government's positions on disembarkation and return responsibilities.