Bilal*, a Sudanese migrant in Libya, knew victims of the April 22 shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea. On that day, 130 people are believed to have died at sea as a result of the failure of Libyan and European maritime rescue services as well as complicated weather conditions. After the tragedy, Bilal spoke with InfoMigrants.
Migrant aid groups, the Pope and the UN have denounced the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean which likely claimed the lives of 130 migrants. Libya's coast guard rejected allegations of not doing enough to help.
After several days at sea, the 116 migrants rescued by the Ocean Viking at the end of last week and over the weekend have disembarked in the Sicilian port of Augusta. Six persons tested positive for COVID-19.
Up to 60 migrants are feared dead after a shipwreck on Thursday, March 18. The organization Alarm Phone has tried to reconstruct what happened and has spoken with survivors. Its report was released on Monday.
The private rescue ship Ocean Viking is carrying 116 rescued migrants on board in the central Mediterranean following two separate rescues. The crew say they have sent requests for docking and are waiting for a place of safety in order to disembark the migrants soon, as storms approach.
What happens to migrants who are rescued in the Mediterranean Sea and then brought to shore in Italy? InfoMigrants explains the procedure of fingerprinting, compulsory health quarantine, and the steps that follow.
Sicilian authorities have now reported 49 positive COVID-19 tests from the group of 422 migrants who disembarked the Ocean Viking on Monday and Tuesday this week.
Migrants and crew onboard the Ocean Viking celebrated on Sunday after they were told the ship's 422 passengers could disembark in the port of Augusta in Sicily. Disembarkation was expected to start on Monday.
The humanitarian organization SOS Mediterranee said on Thursday that its crew had rescued 121 people, among them 19 women and two small children, from an overcrowded rubber boat off Libya. Another 140 migrants were returned to Libya by coast guards on Wednesday.
On Monday, January 25, 373 migrants on board the Ocean Viking were disembarked in the port of Augusta in Sicily. The migrants had been rescued from three different small boats in the space of 48 hours.
Roughly 120 migrants were rescued by the crew of NGO ship Ocean Viking on Thursday off the coast of Libya. Four small children were reportedly among those rescued.
The Ocean Viking migrant rescue ship operated by SOS Mediterranee left the port of Marseille on January 11 to travel to the central Mediterranean and resume rescue operations for the first time after six months. Over the next few days, the 22 members of the medical and rescue team will prepare for new operations at sea, the NGO said.