Thirty-two asylum seekers have filed a complaint for human rights violations against the Maltese government. In the spring of 2020, the cabinet decided to leave them for weeks on two tourist boats outside territorial waters as a precautionary measure against Covid-19.
Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis said relying on the EU Pact on Migration is not enough in the fight against undocumented migration, and called on individual governments within the Med5 region to make use of their own legal frameworks for better results.
Survivors rescued by the NGO ship SOS Mediterranee say that they had been subjected to violence during their journey towards Europe.They say that had spent three days at sea prior to the rescue and had run out of water and fuel shortly after the journey began.
The two NGO rescue vessels "Ocean Viking" and "Sea-Watch 3" now carry a total of more than 800 people on board, all of whom were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend.
Two NGO vessels have saved some 250 migrants from distress in the Mediterranean Sea over two days. The number of arrivals to Italy via the central Mediterranean, at present one of the most dangerous migration paths in the world, continues to rise.
The German government has not received any migrants who were rescued from boats in the central Mediterranean since September. A total of 913 people have been transferred to Germany since June 2018, according to the interior ministry.
Three men were found dead on board a boat carrying 81 other migrants that was rescued by Malta early on Wednesday. The charity Sea-Watch has claimed that authorities purposely delayed the rescue.
The humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee has rescued a total of 572 migrants and refugees in Maltese and Libyan waters in recent days. Their vessel Ocean Viking is now looking for a port to disembark the rescuees, as further boats continue to depart from North Africa.
Some 90 migrants on a boat in distress were reportedly intercepted and returned to Libya over the weekend. The NGO Sea-Watch said Maltese authorities shared the boat's location with the Libyan coast guard to prevent it from reaching Maltese waters.
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese has announced the signing of a protocol to bring 500 people from Libya to Italy. She also called for Europe to hold "constructive dialogue" on migration.
Italy has agreed to take in 86 people found drifting in the Mediterranean on Wednesday. The migrants were rescued by a small private vessel, Nadir, which said it refused to hand them over to Libyan authorities.
The humanitarian rescue ship Geo Barents, run by the organization Doctors without Borders (MSF), is now searching for a safe harbor in which to disembark the 410 migrants it rescued in the central Mediterranean over the last few days.