The Spanish rescue organization Proactiva Open Arms rescued 365 migrants in the Central Mediterranean in several operations last week. After receiving permission to disembark, 363 people stepped ashore in the Italian town of Pozzallo on Sunday. Two migrants had been evacuated earlier for medical reasons.
Boats operated by non-profit groups have saved over 600 migrants in the Mediterranean within a week. Now, the 403 migrants rescued by the Ocean Viking have disembarked in Italy. Meanwhile, navy boats brought 77 migrants from the vessel Alan Kurdi to Malta.
The humanitarian rescue vessel Open Arms picked up 158 migrants in two rescue operations off the coast of Libya overnight. Since Thursday, three NGO ships have rescued nearly 640 people. Over 400 migrants on board the Ocean Viking will be allowed to disembark in Taranto, Italy.
Italian authorities have assigned NGO rescue vessels Sea-Watch 3 and the Open Arms with almost 240 rescued migrants on board the ports of Taranto and Messina, respectively. Four EU countries agreed to receive the migrants, yet a binding quota system for the distribution of migrants rescued at sea is still not in place.
The Spanish humanitarian organization Proactiva Open Arms rescued 73 migrants from a distressed boat in the Mediterranean early Thursday morning. Some of the migrants were severely injured, the NGO said.
US actor Richard Gere on Monday was honored by the Italian city of Florence for his humanitarian work in favor of migrants and human rights.
The Spanish non-profit organization Proactiva Open Arms has rescued 44 people from a wooden boat in the Mediterranean. The chief of mission of the rescue boat says Malta told him not to help the group, which included a young child and a baby.
The Spanish maritime rescue service on Monday rescued almost 200 migrants who tried to get to Spain from North Africa. This brings the total number of people rescued in the Western Mediterranean to nearly 400 in less than one week.
More than 150 migrants crossed the border fence separating the Spanish overseas enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Friday. It was the biggest attempt to cross the heavily guarded barrier in a year.
The Spanish maritime rescue service has rescued more than 200 migrants from Mediterranean waters in the past 24 hours. The rescue comes at the same time as Spain is getting ready to welcome 15 migrants it picked up from Sicily using a naval warship.
18-year-old Feven, a migrant from Eritrea, was rescued at sea by the Spanish migrant aid organization Proactiva Open Arms. After she disembarked on the island of Lampedusa, she recounted the horrors of her journey to the UNHCR.
The Italian Interior Ministry said the European Commission is planning to distribute the 80 migrants rescued by NGO rescue vessel Open Arms. The migrants, currently on the islands of Sicily and Lampedusa, will be received by EU countries that have expressed willingness to take them in. Meanwhile, an Italian polician said the situation on Lampedusa is becoming increasingly unsustainable.