The humanitarian association Mediterranea Saving Humans has launched its third Safe Passage mission to take medicine, food and other aid to Ukraine and to bring refugees fleeing the war back to Italy.
At least 200 migrants have been rescued from the central Mediterranean Sea in the past two days. The migrants were fleeing Libya when they were picked up by two humanitarian aid ships, Geo Barents and Mare Jonio.
Several humanitarian organizations have sent an appeal to Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese. They want her to immediately allow church charities to carry out five flights to evacuate vulnerable migrants from Libya to Italy.
Following Italy's permission to let cargo ship Maersk Etienne disembark 27 rescued migrants, UN refugee agency UNHCR has launched a new appeal for the redistribution of migrants at a European level. The migrants had been stranded at sea for 39 days before being allowed to step ashore in Sicily on September 12.
While migrant landings in Italy in the first half of 2020 have nearly tripled compared to the first semester of 2019, quarantine rules against COVID-19 for migrants rescued at sea have taken center stage. A controversy was sparked by the fact that 67 people who were rescued by Italian vessel Mare Jonio were allowed to disembark in Pozzallo, Sicily, on June 20 while 211 migrants rescued a day later by the German Sea-Watch vessel were transferred to another ship to be quarantined.
Artist und activist Zehra Doan is auctioning of one of her artworks to help fund the migrant rescue missions of NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans.
An Italian court has ordered the seized sailboat Alex Mediterranea to be released. The ship of the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans was confiscated last July after it had rescued 59 people in the Mediterranean.
The president of Mediterranea Saving Humans has said that European policies have turned the Mediterranean "into a graveyard." An estimated 20,0000 migrants have died on the Mediterranean Route since 2014.
The mayor of the Sicilian city of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando, on Monday granted honorary citizenship to the crews of three boats involved in rescuing human lives in the Mediterranean Sea.
Italian authorities on Monday seized the German rescue boat Eleonore. The rescue boat had been stranded at sea for a week with over 100 migrants aboard. Meanwhile, 31 migrants aboard the rescue ship Mare Jonio were also allowed to disembark on Lampedusa.