A thirteen-month-old baby recently drowned while crossing with her mother from Morocco to the Canary Islands in a wooden boat. The Spanish territories continue to draw migrants from Western Africa, costing thousands of lives.
Pia Klemp stands accused of aiding illegal immigration after she saved people from drowning in the Mediterranean. The Bonn native has accused Italian authorities of organizing "a show trial."
Stranded migrants have been rescued by the Italian navy and taken to Lampedusa and Malta. The UN refugee agency has airlifted migrants, including babies, from Libya to Rome.
A group of 75 people has been taken to Malta after they were found stranded on a tuna pen in the Mediterranean. The navy said it picked up the migrants on Wednesday night.
The United Nations has urged the Italian government to halt the approval of a new decree on security. UN human rights experts say it violates migrants' human rights. Under the decree, NGO-run ships would be fined for every person rescued at sea and taken to Italian territory.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has announced a new security decree that cracks down further on NGOs helping migrants and redistributes ministries' competencies regarding the sea. The draft of the new decree, which has not yet been released, has already set off controversy.
Germany’s non-profit Sea-Watch has announced it would resume its mission to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. On Tuesday, the organization had achieved a partial success at a Dutch court, giving the NGO more time to meet new safety regulations.
The Aita Mari was supposed to run search and rescue missions in the Central Mediterranean. But the Spanish government denied the ship permission to do so and blocked it from setting sail for months. That's why the crew decided to go on an aid mission in Greece instead.
The Mare Ionio ship has started its fourth mission in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, the NGO that runs the ship has filed a lawsuit against a directive signed by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini against NGOs rescuing migrants.
The Libyan Coast Guard has stopped three boats carrying 113 migrants trying to reach Italy in the past two days. The migrants have been taken to detention centers in towns west of Tripoli, according to UN migration officials.
The Libyan Coast Guard has not been operating in its maritime rescue zone for three weeks. A German search and rescue NGO, Sea-Eye, has called for Malta to take over and has warned of a 'Libyan death zone.'
Prosecutors in Italy have requested the indictment of four foreign nationals accused of being human traffickers. They were allegedly responsible for the migrant boat that was later rescued by the Italian Coast Guard ship Diciotti. The boat is at the center of a legal case involving Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.