Italian authorities have arrested three people accused of detaining and torturing dozens of migrants, who were hoping to travel to Italy, at a camp in Libya. The three suspects face charges including human trafficking.
At the weekend, dozens of migrants disembarked autonomously on the coasts of the Italian island of Lampedusa, where independent arrivals by sea are becoming increasingly more frequent.
The Council of Europe on Thursday urged member states to step up protection for the victims of human trafficking; underscoring that migrant flows in the Mediterranean are an example of how the lack of access to Europe fails to protect victims of human traffickers.
The Protestant Church is calling for a political solution to the migration crisis in Europe. The Catholic Church's bishop council declined to say whether it would implement a similar measure.
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...
The decision to give the post of interior minister to bureaucrat, expert and long-standing ministry official Luciana Lamorgese could be read as a sign that Italian migration policy is about to change. Could her appointment be a break from the policies pushed hard by outgoing minister Matteo Salvini?
Boats carrying migrants wishing to make it to the EU continue to land on Italian shores, despite interior minister Matteo Salvini's 'closed ports' policy. On Saturday, 46 Algerians landed on Sardinia.
Following another shipwreck in the Mediterreanean Sea, UN refugee agency UNHCR said it is "unacceptable" that these tragedies happen. It is calling for restoring an official search and rescue (SAR) system as soon as possible.
A boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya on Tuesday. At least 40 people are missing and are presumed drowned.
A total of 859 migrants have died in the Mediterranean as of August 22, said the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It said 45,505 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year, which represents a 30 percent drop on 2018 figures.
Lampedusa Mayor Totò Martello is criticizing the stall on transferring migrants rescued by the ship Open Arms, who are currently on the island, to Spain. "What's happening in Lampedusa is paradoxical," he said on Facebook. "Now those migrants are all on the island, with the migrant reception center full."