The humanitarian rescue ship Alan Kurdi, operated by the organization Sea-Eye, has announced that it is setting sail for France after it was refused entry to ports in Italy and Malta. The ship rescued 133 migrants over the weekend.
On Sunday, the crew from the private rescue organization Sea-Eye announced they had taken on board 133 migrants from three different boats off the Libyan coast. Two of the rescues took place on Saturday and a further one happened on Sunday.
Two dozen migrants are believed to have drowned after their boat capsized off the Libyan coast in the night from Sunday to Monday. So far this year, close to 600 people have died in the Mediterranean trying to get to Europe.
The humanitarian rescue ship Open Arms rescued a further 77 migrants on Thursday night. Among those rescued were 11 women and two children. The ship was already carrying 83 previously rescued migrants.
The Council of State, Italy's highest administrative court, rejected an appeal contesting the 2017 allocation of 2.5 million euros to Libya's interior ministry from Italy's Africa Fund. The appeal claimed that the funds, used to support Libya's coast guard, worsened the condition of migrants in Libya.
83 migrants were saved last week in the Sahara Desert in northern Niger. The group had spent three days without food or water after their smugglers abandoned them en route to Libya.
A video published on the website of the Maltese newspaper Times of Malta shows footage purporting to be from inside the Safi military barracks on the island nation where migrants claim they are being held for months at a time. Conditions are so bad, some are begging to be allowed to return home.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has once more called for the closure of migrant detention centers in Libya. He highlighted that human rights abuses cost scores of migrant lives in the country.
In a new report, Save the Children says little has changed for more than 200,000 unaccompanied children who have sought asylum in Europe over the past five years. They "continue to drown on the EU's watch," the NGO said.
Five Eritrean citizens arrived in Italy on Sunday after the Court of Rome recognized their right to apply for asylum. In 2009, Italy had rescued the migrants in the Mediterranean Sea and illegally sent them back to Libya.
The Louise Michel sent a distress call saying it was overloaded with migrants, one of whom has died. Several of the most vulnerable were picked up by the Italian coast guard; around 150 were moved to another rescue ship.
27 migrants who were rescued at sea in the Mediterranean have been stuck on a cargo ship off Malta for more than three weeks. Meanwhile, the private rescue ship Sea-Watch 4 is seeking a port for 201 migrants.