The IOM is concerned that migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean continue to be returned to Libya. In the last three days, around 400 have been returned, a further 90 people risk being returned and two people died.
Malta rescued another 140 migrants last week and placed them on tourist boats; there are now around 300 migrants waiting on chartered vessels offshore. While Malta is defending its course, human rights watchdogs have been calling on Malta and other EU states to find a way to bring the migrants to land.
According to a British and an Italian daily, Malta's coast guard pushed away and sent to Italy around 100 migrants stranded at sea in Maltese territorial waters. If true, the incident, which allegedly took place in mid-April, is a violation of international law.
The number of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean is rising. But with Europe closing its ports and halting humanitarian ships to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, activists fear the Mediterranean is becoming an overlooked tragedy.
After their rescue over the weekend, dozens of migrants on board German container ship MV Marina are reportedly in bad shape. The ship’s operator said the situation is tense and warned of a possible escalation.
On Sunday, 34 migrants who had been on board the rescue ship Aita Mari, joined 146 migrants taken from another rescue ship, the Alan Kurdi, in quarantine aboard a ferry off the coast of Palermo. The migrants are expected to spend 14 days on the ferry.
Non-governmental organizations are accusing Italy and Malta of using the coronavirus pandemic as a pretext for closing ports to private rescue vessels. They say the lives of migrants are being put at risk.
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.
Malta has asked the EU for a humanitarian mission to Libya with at least 100 million euros in aid to stop migration flows from the African country during the COVID-19 emergency.
Over the Easter weekend, four boats carrying migrants were reported to be adrift in the Mediterranean by the organization Alarm Phone. On Tuesday morning, the organization was still asking for confirmation that all the people on board have been rescued or reached land.
On Monday evening the humantiarian vessel Aita Mari, sailing under a Spanish flag, rescued 47 migrants at sea in the Mediterranean. Now the crew is searching for a safe port in Malta in which to disembark the migrants.
The global coronavirus pandemic is also affecting sea rescue operations. While the Alan Kurdi rescue vessel continues to look for safe harbor in the Mediterranean, the German interior ministry launched an appeal saying that private rescue missions should halt their activities for the time being during the COVID-19 crisis.