The humanitarian rescue ship Alan Kurdi, operated by the organization Sea-Eye, has announced that it is setting sail for France after it was refused entry to ports in Italy and Malta. The ship rescued 133 migrants over the weekend.
Algerian authorities said they have foiled 42 departures towards European countries in five days, apprehending a total of 485 migrants. Officials also said they recovered the bodies of 10 people who died while attempting the crossing from North Africa to Europe.
The Tunisian authorities announced on Monday that their naval patrols had intercepted a total of 19 boats carrying 246 migrants hoping to make a new life in Italy. The vast majority of migrants were from Tunisia, 29 of them however came from various other countries.
The Italian national ombudsman for detainee rights last week visited a quarantine ship for migrants anchored off Palermo. Mauro Palma said that he had found conditions on the Rhapsody much better than those in previous temporary facilities provided in overcrowded hotspots in the country.
168 migrants tried to cross the western Mediterranean from Morocco to Spain last week with makeshift crafts. Morocco's coast guard said it stopped the attempted crossings and returned the migrants to Morocco.
The organization Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) has reported that 2,235 Tunisian migrants reached Italy's coasts in August. This brings to 7,890 the total number of Tunisians who landed in Italy illegally between January 1 and August 31, 2020.
The humanitarian rescue ship Open Arms rescued a further 77 migrants on Thursday night. Among those rescued were 11 women and two children. The ship was already carrying 83 previously rescued migrants.
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said, regarding migrant arrivals on Italian shores, that the authorities “certainly can't stop the boats by sinking them," and said the strategy is to work with countries of origin to stop departures.
The famous UK street artist Banksy has sponsored a new migrant rescue boat active in the central Mediterranean. The pink yacht reportedly rescued 89 people on Thursday. It has also helped with two rescue operations carried out by the Sea-Watch 4.
Alex Assali came to Germany in October 2014 from Syria, fleeing war, political persecution and IS. He obtained refugee status and wanted to give something back to Germany, so he started a soup kitchen for homeless people in Berlin. His actions went viral and now he has found love and marriage in Germany too.
The Red Crescent retrieved on Sunday the bodies of 22 migrants near the Libyan coastal town of Zwara, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Last week dozens of migrants perished in what was the largest recorded shipwreck off Libya so far this year.
A total of 1,400 migrants and refugees are currently on Lampedusa. Hundreds arrived in small boats last week. Migrant reception facilities on the Italian island have been overcrowded for several weeks.