Tag: migrants

A record number of migrants and asylum-seekers were picked up from small boats attempting to make the perilous crossing of the English Channel to reach Britain within just one day. Only on 1st June, there were 13 incidents off the Kent coast, with 74 people rescued.

Six have lost their lives after a boat that was transporting migrants sank off the Greek island of Mytilene, on May 11. According to sources, another 58 people were rescued, which were then transported to the port of Mytilene. Moreover, boats of the Greek Navy and Frontex, as well as a super puma helicopter are also taking part in the search and rescue operation in the area.

Italian authorities have released the charity vessel 'Sea-Watch 3' Saturday, the German NGO Sea-Watch announced. The ship was impounded nearly three weeks ago, after rescuing several migrants in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya. 

The Italian authorities seized the charity vessel 'Sea Watch 3', after 47 migrants disembarked at the Port of Lampedusa. After their rescue on May 15, off the Libyan coast, the migrants were transferred onto the island. Because the Sea Watch 3 was too big to enter Lampedusa, the migrants were transported to shore by the Italian customs police, the Guardia di Finanza, and the coastguard who boarded the vessel.

On 21 May, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in collaboration with Albania, will launch its first joint operation on the territory of a non-EU country. This will be the first operation of its kind, marking a new phase for border cooperation between the EU and Western Balkan partners. The negotiations on a Status Agreement on border cooperation between the European Border and Coast Guard and Albania started in December 2017.

The European Union decided to suspend, until 30 September, the EUNAVFOR MED 'Operation Sophia', which is deployed to rescue thousands of refugees and migrants from the central Mediterranean route. Only air patrols are to continue. 

Eight days after rescuing 64 migrants off the coast of Libya, the humanitarian aid vessel Alan Kurdi is still seeking a port to disembark the survivors. In the meantime, Italy and Malta are still denying the Kurdi permission to enter port. Thus, the operator of the vessel has been forced to look for accommodation to other European states. For the time being, no port hasn't accepted the vessel.

Matteo Salvini on Thursday, March 28, urged Berlin to take responsibility for 64 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by a German charity boat and heading toward the Italian coast in rough seas, Reuters reports. New arrivals to Italy have plummeted since Salvini took office in June, with just 532 migrants coming so far this year, down 92% on the same period in 2018 and down 98% on 2017.

The tanker El Hiblu 1 rescued about 100 migrants on February 27, when three amongst them began to riot and threaten violence when they realized that they were being returned to Libya. The thee teenage migrants have been charged in a court in Malta after hijacking the commercial oil tanker that had rescued them.

Refugees and migrants have reportedly hijacked the Palau-flagged tanker 'Elhiblu 1', after the ship rescued them off the coast of Libya, Tuesday night. The Maltese navy took over control shortly after and the ship arrived in Malta Thursday morning.