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.
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.
Tens of thousands of migrants are stuck in worn-torn Yemen amid the coronavirus pandemic. The UN migration agency IOM is worried that they face not only arbitrary detention and abuse, but are also extremely vulnerable to the coronavirus.
The conditions for migrants and refugees in Yemen are getting worse amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Not only are refugees and migrants more vulnerable to contracting the dangerous disease, but they are also increasingly facing stigmatization and prejudice.
The UNHCR announced a joint initiative with the World Food Programme (WFP) to save up to 10,000 refugees and migrants stuck in Libya from malnourishment and starvation. The program comes amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
Since April 2019, deaths have been reported daily on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli due to landmines and explosive traps left there. The clashes between the forces of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord and troops led by eastern commander Khalifa Haftar have been going on for over 400 days now.
Pope Francis appealed to the international community in his latest Sunday address, to help migrants stuck in Libya and bring an end to the fighting in that country.
It is unacceptable for migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean to be brought back to Libya, Save the Children said in a recent statement. They believe that Libya "cannot be considered a place of safety."
Libya’s coast guard returned around 50 migrants to detention centers in Tripoli who had earlier been picked up at sea by a Maltese commercial vessel. At least five migrants have died and another seven remain missing from inflatable boats, on which the migrants had attempted to reach Europe, according to the UNHCR.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 200,000 people have been displaced in the past 12 months. The coronavirus pandemic appears to further complicate the situation in the war-torn country.
A precarious truce in Tripoli appears to be largely holding following a conference in Berlin on Sunday, according to sources on the ground. After a few clashes were reported on Sunday night, the situation has become calm again.
Representatives from the international community met the Libyan warring parties in Berlin on Sunday, January 19. The summit was intended to broker a ceasefire and lasting peace for the country. But what was agreed and what could that mean for the more than 40,000 migrants in Libya?