Malta's armed forces airlifted a heavily pregnant Nigerian woman and her husband from the rescue ship on Wednesday. The charity-run ship is currently carrying more than 80 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea.
The private rescue ship, Ocean Viking operated by Doctors without borders (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee, picked up a further 34 people in the Mediterranean in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The migrants had issued a distress call on Monday and had been picked up first by a small sailing yacht.
Once a support and rescue vessel for offshore oil platforms, Norwegian-flagged Ocean Viking has now embarked upon a mission to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. Here's an upclose look at what a rescue ship looks like from the inside. So, let's meet some of its crew and let them tell us about life aboard...
Private rescue missions are increasingly facing rejection by ports in Italy and now Malta. One particular vessel, the Ocean Viking, is now prepared for all emergencies on board because of this — including pregnancies and births.
As a result of new amendments to Italy’s security decree, fines up to one million euros could be imposed on private rescue organizations who attempt to disembark rescued migrants in Italy or defy refusals to enter Italian waters. The latest amendments were passed into law by Italy’s upper house, the Senate, on Monday, August 5.
Humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee says it has relaunched migrant rescues off Libya, seven months after it was forced to abandon its activities. The new mission comes after a standoff between Italy and Sea-Watch 3.
Svein Ludvigsen was sentenced to five years in jail for having sexually abused three young asylum seekers when he was a regional governor. Between 2011 and 2017, Ludvigsen reportedly demanded sex in exchange for granting a stay permit and threatened expulsion if the asylum seeker refused.
Sweden and Switzerland are among the most favored destinations for skilled migrant workers, according to an international survey. The OECD poll published on Wednesday links countries' migration policies with their attractiveness to workers from abroad.
As fighting in Syria has slowed down, refugees and internally displaced people have started returning to their former properties - only to often find bombed-out buildings where their homes once stood. Amid a staggering number of land disputes arising as a result of the war, women are sometimes resorting to desperate measures in a bid to escape destitution.
Three years after the EU-Turkey declaration, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is calling on European countries to take their share of responsibility for handling refugees. Paying off Turkey and Greece, who have been excessively hit by the crisis, cannot be the solution, the NRC said.
Several years ago the numbers of refugees who came to Europe skyrocketed. It marked a turning point in politics across the European continent and gave a boost to right-wing parties who vowed to clamp down on asylum-seekers and other migrants. In Norway, a group is helping refugees bring their skills into the labor market and turn their experiences into innovative business ideas.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has compiled a list of ten challenges that young refugees face. These include things such as difficulty getting legal recognition and access to instruction, discrimination, difficulty in finding work, and a lack of safety and security.