The Libyan coast guard has reportedly taken 30 migrants off the supply ship "OOC Panther" that rescued them on Saturday in the Central Mediterranean. According to charity search and rescue groups, armed Libyan guards had previously boarded the ship in an attempt to force the migrants to return to Libya.
Two charity boats, carrying a total of 140 migrants saved from Mediterranean waters, have been given permission to board and disembark their passengers in Italian ports after a number of EU nations agreed to take in some of the rescued migrants. However, there have also been more deaths at sea over the weekend.
Malta has signed a ‘secret deal’ with Libyan authorities to intercept migrants before they reach Maltese waters and take them back to Libya, the ‘The Times of Malta’ has reported. The Maltese government denies the charge.
The two rescue ships Alan Kurdi and Ocean Viking were assigned a safe harbor at the Italian port of Pozzallo in Sicily. The nearly 200 migrants will be distributed to France, Germany and Italy, according to the private rescue organization SOS Mediterranee. A pregnant woman had been evacuated over the weekend, and one man remains missing since the Alan Kurdi rescued 91 migrants on Saturday.
Malta reportedly asked the Libyan coast guard to rescue a migrant boat in Maltese waters. The UN agency has said that this may be a violation of maritime laws.
About 100 migrants have been arrested in Malta for taking part in a riot in which parts of a reception center were seriously damaged. Two teenagers from Sudan and Nigeria and a 20-year-old from Chad are accused of instigating the riots.
Migrants at a holding center in Malta set at least five staff cars on fire, destroyed parts of the building they were staying in, and left one policeman injured. The riots follow months of new sea arrivals in the small island nation.
The Mediterranean crossing continues to be the deadliest migrant route worldwide: 19,000 migrants have been reported dead or missing since October 3, 2013. So far this year, the crossing has claimed over 1,000 victims.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on EU member states to relaunch a naval rescue operation in the Mediterranean. The body, which is not related to the European Union, highlighted that it is the duty of EU member states "not to let people drown in the Mediterranean."
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that more than 1,000 people had died at sea in the Mediterranean in 2019 in a bid to reach Europe. The statement came on the anniversary of the shipwreck off Lampedusa on October 3, 2013.
A spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry said the country could seek to leave the planned automatic redistribution mechanism for asylum seekers if the mechanism were to increase the number of migrants into the thousands.
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said that thus far this year, there have been 5,044 forced repatriations of migrants who did not have the right to stay in Italy. she added that more than 200 voluntary returns had also taken place.