Tunisia: 13 people missing after shipwreck
At least 13 people are missing at sea after a boat sank off the coast of Louata in the governorate of Sfax. Tunisian coast guards said they rescued 24 people.
At least 13 people are missing at sea after a boat sank off the coast of Louata in the governorate of Sfax. Tunisian coast guards said they rescued 24 people.
A recent fact-checking investigation into the claim that NGO search and rescue operations act as a pull factor for migrants has concluded that it is 'mostly false'.
A case against search and rescue volunteers Sarah Mardini and Sean Binder in Greece has been shelved for now. But hundreds more people across Europe still face charges such as migrant smuggling, despite growing calls to end the criminalization of humanitarian assistance.
A dispute continues between NGOs operating in the Mediterranean and the Italian government, after Italy passed a decree to tighten regulations against the operation of rescue ships. The interior minister has been meeting with Mediterranean neighbors to try and cut down on migration.
The MSF rescue ship in the Mediterranean was racing to help a migrant boat in distress on Monday, but feared doing so might break the far-right Italian government's new law on life-saving missions.
NGO's warn the new measures introduced by the Italian government, which aim to restrict sea rescue operations by private ships, could result in thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean.
At least two migrants were confirmed to have died while over 200 were rescued on Saturday when their boat sank off Lebanon's northern coast, from where increasing numbers of people are trying to make the risky journey to flee their collapsed economy.
On December 31st, in the presence of dozens of police, coast guard officials and medics, the Ocean Viking rescue ship disembarked the last of 113 migrants at the port of Ravenna in northern Italy. Frey Lindsay reports for InfoMigrants.
The Italian government is working on introducing tougher measures to limit the capacities of private rescue organizations carrying out rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. Italy says sanctions will be included in a new code of conduct.
Tunisian authorities have recovered the bodies of four people believed to be African migrants, including a pregnant woman, off the coast of Kerkennah Island in the Central Mediterranean.
The Italian government appears to be using a new tactic against private sea rescue organizations operating in the Mediterranean. While previously the allocation of ports was often delayed or ships were confiscated, the government is now also asking rescue ships to make longer journeys.
Tunisia is due to hold elections at the weekend, but some young Tunisians couldn’t care less. All they want is a chance to leave the country on a boat bound for Europe.