The ship belongs to the German NGO SOS Humanity and is carrying migrants it rescued off the coast of Libya.
A German non-governmental organization ship carrying out search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean was on Wednesday trying to secure permission to dock in either Malta or Italy in order to disembark hundreds of people it rescued off Libya.
The boat Humanity 1, of the NGO SOS Humanity (“SOS Humanity”), is sailing towards the coasts of Malta and Sicily carrying 261 refugees and migrants. So far, according to its crew, no official response has been received informing it at which port it can disembark the rescued.
Earlier, the search and rescue ship Louise Michel picked up more than thirty people in danger in the Mediterranean. The vessel of the non-governmental organization of the same name has participated in other missions in recent days, along with Humanity 1.
At the same time, the NGO Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) continues to operate in the Mediterranean and had rescued 254 people in the last few days, according to its own data.
Geo Barents, the organization’s search and rescue vessel, is now carrying 255 migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean, as a young woman gave birth yesterday morning after being rescued. She is in a critical condition and authorities in Malta and Italy have been asked to take her, the newborn and her three other sons. Another expectant mother is on board the ship, according to the NGO.
The ship Sea-Eye 4, of the German non-governmental organization Sea-Eye, which sailed from Spain, is also sailing towards the central Mediterranean.
In recent years, non-governmental organizations have been at the forefront of search and rescue operations for refugees and migrants trying to reach a country in the European Union by departing, often in anything but seaworthy boats, from the coasts of mainly Libya and Tunisia. At least 17,000 people have died in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe since 2014, according to the UN.
Italy, where the head of the far-right coalition government, Giorgia Meloni, says she will “stop” migration flows, is currently hardening its policy towards NGOs.
In 2022, Italy saw a large increase in migrant arrivals by sea, according to Interior Ministry figures, to nearly 97,000 people, up from around 63,000 in 2021 and 32,000 in 2020.
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