The private rescue vessel "Alan Kurdi," run by the private search-and-rescue charity Sea-Eye, confirmed that it would not enter Italian territorial waters after picking up 40 migrants at sea yesterday. The rescued migrants reportedly hail from Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Congo and Cameroon.
“Alan Kurdi,” the rescue boat of German NGO Sea-Eye, is starting a new mission to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. A spokesperson of the charity said the mission will last up to four weeks.
The popular German band Revolverheld has donated an unspecified amount of its proceeds to the German Sea-Eye charity. The funds will be enough to finance one week at sea for the private search-and-rescue mission's Alan Kurdi vessel.
Private sea rescue organizations are struggling for their presence in the Mediterranean: Ships are seized, penalties could increase and tedious stand-offs with authorities put a strain on crews. While Sea-Eye has ended its mission for the time being, German charity Mission Lifeline has announced it is preparing a new rescue mission with a new ship.
The recent cases of the vessels Sea-Watch 3, Alex, and Alan Kurdi mark one year since the standoff began between migrant rescue NGOs and Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini over his closed-port policy.
NGOs rescue ships rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean continue to make the headlines: After the Sea-Watch drama and Mediterranea’s ongoing stand-off with Italy, Sea-Eye’s “Alan Kurdi” vessel is looking for a safe port after saving 65 migrants from a rubber dinghy off Libya.
Sea-Watch captain Carola Rackete's arrest sent shockwaves through Europe, with many high-ranking politicians across the EU praising her actions while others believe she broke the law. However, Rackete is not the only German citizen facing serious legal consequences in Italy for saving the lives of migrants at sea.
The Sea-Eye rescue ship Alan Kurdi is anchored off the coast of Malta with over 60 refugees on board. The vessel has been forbidden to dock. Sea-Eye spokesperson Carlotta Weibl spoke with DW about the situation.
Supplies on board the migrant rescue ship 'Alan Kurdi' are running low, the non-government organization Sea Eye says. Six days after the rescue of 64 migrants off the Libyan coast, food and drinking water has nearly run out. Malta and Italy continue to refuse the ship permission to dock.
Many of the 49 people rescued in December by the Sea Watch and Sea Eye ships are engaged in a hunger strike, the platform Mediterranea Saving Humans reports. The migrants have been in a Malta center for two months and are protesting "against the de facto detention that they are illegally subjected to."
The photograph of three-year-old Alan Kurdi's lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach shocked the world in 2015. A German rescue organization has now named a ship after the toddler.
The 49 rescued migrants and refugees say that they are hoping to find "rights and work" in Europe. "We will manage to survive because we know how to adapt to anything," a young Algerian told us.