Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has denounced in a statement that "administrative obstacles once again do not allow the Sea-Watch 4 to rescue lives while people continue to die in the central Mediterranean." The NGO said on October 23 that it fears that technicalities are being used by Italian authorities to block migrant-rescue vessels.
Four NGOs involved in the rescue of migrants experiencing difficulty at sea have issued a statement calling for Italy to stop blocking their ships.
Italian authorities have confined the migrant rescue vessel Sea-Watch 4 to port in the Sicilian city of Palermo. Aid groups say the move has been made under false pretenses.
27 migrants rescued by cargo ship Maersk Etienne have disembarked in Sicily after being stranded at sea for close to six weeks, ending one of the longest standoffs in the Mediterranean between a boat and EU governments. According to a local online service, the whole group tested negative for the coronavirus.
Protesters have set up chairs in Berlin to represent residents of the overcrowded Moria camp in Greece. They say the first positive coronavirus test at the camp has made the need for intervention even more urgent.
After the migrant rescue ship Sea-Watch 4 landed in Palermo, a spokesperson for the NGO that runs the ship called on the Italian government to not take "vexatious initiatives" regarding the vessel, "as it did with the Sea-Watch 3."
After close to two weeks at sea, Italy has allowed charity rescue ship Sea-Watch 4 to bring the over 350 migrants it has on board to Sicily. Meanwhile, the aunt of famous Syrian boy Alan Kurdi, who drowned in 2015 trying to reach Greece, pleaded not to "turn our back" on refugees.
The Louise Michel sent a distress call saying it was overloaded with migrants, one of whom has died. Several of the most vulnerable were picked up by the Italian coast guard; around 150 were moved to another rescue ship.
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.
A boy has been evacuated from a migrant rescue ship after he received severe fuel burns. More than 200 migrants remain on the Sea-Watch 4 stranded off Sicily.
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.
About a week after being launched, the Sea-Watch 4, the latest humanitarian rescue ship to have set sail in the Mediterranean, has completed three rescues in the last 48 hours. On Monday, August 24, the boat's crew tweeted that they now have "more than 200 people on board."