Italy has given permission for 140 migrants to disembark the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms. Over the past two days more than 100 migrants jumped off the rescue ship stranded off Sicily and tried to swim to shore.
Denmark has appointed a new special migration envoy to "help open doors" towards a new EU migration policy which would push reception centers outside EU borders. The government on Thursday also said that Tunisia should take in the 27 migrants aboard the Danish-flagged tanker Maersk Etienne which has been stranded off Malta for weeks.
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.
The international rights group has condemned Malta for "unlawful" treatment of migrants in the Mediterranean. The UN has also called on Malta to allow 27 migrants and refugees currently on a cargo ship to disembark.
Three people have jumped into the Mediterranean near Malta from a stranded tanker. They were later rescued by the ship's crew, who first picked them up a month ago and have since struggled to find a place to disembark.
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.
A boy has been evacuated from a migrant rescue ship after he received severe fuel burns. More than 200 migrants remain on the Sea-Watch 4 stranded off Sicily.
About a week after being launched, the Sea-Watch 4, the latest humanitarian rescue ship to have set sail in the Mediterranean, has completed three rescues in the last 48 hours. On Monday, August 24, the boat's crew tweeted that they now have "more than 200 people on board."
Irregular migrant arrivals to Europe are picking up again, after record lows in April due to COVID-19 restrictions. The number of people reaching Italy and Malta by boat more than doubled from June to July.
Three private humanitarian organizations -- Sea-Eye, Sea-Watch and SOS Mediterranee -- which operate rescue operations in the Mediterranean have called for the immediate release of their migrant rescue vessels, which are still blocked by Italian authorities. Among the allegations levelled against the charities by the Italian authorities are environmental pollution and transporting too many "passengers."
The German frigate "Hamburg" set sail from Wilhelmshaven in the north of Germany on August 4. It is expected to reach its Mediterranean patrol zone off the Libyan coast by mid-August. The boat will be part of the EU operation Irini, designed to help enforce a UN weapons embargo on Libya in the hope of stabilizing the country.
Malta's armed forces have rescued a group of 95 migrants from a sinking dinghy between Libya and Malta and brought them ashore, authorities said Monday. The volunteer organization Alarm Phone accused Maltese authorities of "systematic delays" in their rescue efforts.