Between Friday and Sunday, some 550 migrants were rescued in the Central Mediterranean. While the private rescue organization Sea-Watch said it saved some 450 people, a Libyan patrol boat picked up nearly 100 from a shipwreck, in which 20 passengers are reported missing.
In the central Mediterranean, the race against time to reach the EU is turning to a race against Libya's coast guard. With mounting reports on stand-offs between Libyan maritime authorities and NGOs in international waters, fewer migrants are succeeding in making their way to Europe. They are instead returned to Libya.
Two commercial vessels and a Spanish rescue ship have brought more than 400 migrants to Sicily over the past three days. One of the ships, the Vos Triton, only drove the survivors to Italy after they protested against being returned to Libya.
102 migrants, including two pregnant women and a seven-month-old baby, were disembarked from the Aita Mari rescue ship at the Sicilian port of Augusta on Monday. They had all been rescued on Friday in the Mediterranean Sea.
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.
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.
In a year that saw over 20,000 migrants arrive on the Canary Islands, Spain's maritime rescue service Salvamento Marítimo saved more than 650 migrant boats. InfoMigrants spoke with the agency about its strategy for responding to distress calls, coordination with Morocco and what we can expect this year.
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.
Over the weekend, more than 150 migrants arrived in the UK after attempting to cross the Channel between mainland Europe and Britain. More than 50 were arrested by French authorities and brought back to France. In 2020, more than 9,500 made it across the water -- the numbers more than quadrupled on 2019 figures.
After rescuing 265 migrants in two operations in the Mediterranean Sea within three days, Italy has allowed the Spanish flagged rescue ship Open Arms to bring its passengers to the Italian island of Sicily. Many of the rescuees are to be taken to a quarantine ship.
The European sea rescue organization SOS Mediterranee says a growing proportion of migrants picked up at sea are under 18 and traveling alone. The journey across the Mediterranean is especially dangerous for children, according to the NGO.