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.
An NGO based in the northern Italian region of Lombardy has rescued two migrants who were exploited by gangmasters. Kali, a 23-year-old Indian man, and Irina, a 27-year-old Romanian woman, became victims of gangmasters after they migrated to Italy. They were aided by ''Lule,'' an organization in Lombardy that helps victims like them.
The international rights group has condemned Malta for "unlawful" treatment of migrants in the Mediterranean. The UN has also called on Malta to allow 27 migrants and refugees currently on a cargo ship to disembark.
According to the German news magazine Spiegel, Germany's Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure is about to make work for the sea rescuers and human rights activists operating in the Mediterranean Sea more difficult by introducing new safety regulations.
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.
The NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans has announced that it is almost ready to resume search-and-rescue operations. They also called on European governments to do more to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.
The German NGO Sea-Eye is in the process of suing the Italian ministry of transport for blocking its search and rescue vessel Alan Kurdi in Sicily. The blockage has been preventing further necessary rescue missions in the Mediterranean, Sea-Eye said.
NGO-run ships in the Mediterranean are systematically conducting search-and-rescue (SAR) operations at sea and should therefore follow the requirements of the service they are undertaking on a regular basis, the head of the coast guards' Sixth navigation and maritime security department, Admiral Luigi Giardino, told ANSA in a recent interview.
A project named "ResQ-People Saving People" has been launched in Milan to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. A team of professionals and volunteers will be carrying out rescue operations and collecting testimonies on what happens near Italy's coasts.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has urged Libya to release more than 200 migrant children who have recently been intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea and returned to Libya.
In just one month, the number of migrants living in the Aubervilliers camp in the Paris region has more than doubled, from 400 in mid-June to around 1,000 in mid-July. While arrivals are expected to continue over the next few weeks, NGOs denounce the failure of the French reception system.
Italy's Coast Guard cited "technical irregularities" and said the ship was carrying too many passengers. SOS Mediterranee, the aid group that runs the ship, called the move "a new level of official harassment."