German charity ship takes more than 100 rescued migrants to Italy

Most who make it to Italy are fleeing poverty and risk having their asylum requests denied by authorities

The Sea Eye 4 rescue ship with 476 people on board enters the port of Messina, Italy, on June 22. EPA

A ship operated by a German charity that rescued more than 100 migrants from two unseaworthy vessels in the central Mediterranean was sailing on Monday towards a northern Italian port.

Sea-Eye 4 plucked 68 migrants from a foundering smugglers’ vessel last week, then sailed on Saturday towards another vessel in distress.

The second rescue, of 45 migrants aboard a plastic boat, was carried out on Sunday night in waters in Malta’s search-and-rescue area, the charity Sea-Eye said.

Malta did not aid in the second rescue, and Italy ordered Sea-Eye 4 to head immediately to its northern port of Livorno without taking on additional migrants, the charity said.

But because “there were no other rescue vessels in the immediate vicinity, the Sea-Eye 4 remained in operation and continued to search for the people missing", the charity said.

During the 35 hours it took Sea-Eye 4 to get to the second vessel, it said it was in contact with two merchant ships in the Maltese search-and-rescue zone that agreed to help.

Migrants cross from Morocco to Spanish enclave of Melilla - in pictures

• 

  Migrants attempt to cross from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Friday. All photos: AP Photo

• 

  It was the first such incursion since Spain and Morocco mended diplomatic relations last month.

• 

  Riot police cordon off the area.

• 

  A migrant is detained by police on Spanish soil.

• 

  Migrants attempt to run free after crossing into the Spanish enclave.

• 

  Hundreds of African migrants attempted the crossing.

• 

  More than 500 migrants managed to enter a border control area after cutting through a fence with shears.

• 

  Thirteen migrants died of injuries sustained in the incursion, in addition to five who were confirmed dead earlier in the day.

• 

  Seventy-six migrants were reportedly injured trying to cross.

• 

  Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the 'violent assault'.

Eventually, one of the two merchant ships reached the plastic boat first and aided in the rescue, Sea-Eye said.

It was not clear when the rescue ship would reach Livorno, the port assigned by Italian authorities for disembarkation.

Of the second rescue, Sea-Eye said, nearly all aboard were traumatised by their ordeal and migrants had burns from fuel spills.

“In total, the people were out at sea for six days and had to fear for their lives," the charity said.

Migrant children rescued in French waters - in pictures

• 

  Migrants are rescued by crew members of the 'Abeille Languedoc' ship after their boat's generator broke down in French waters as they were trying to cross the Channel illegally to Britain. All photos: AFP

• 

  Migrants wait for help in the Channel.

• 

  A child is rescued by crew members of the 'Abeille Languedoc'.

• 

  The 'Abeille Languedoc' is an ocean-going tug specialising in the rescue of vessels in distress.

• 

  Migrant children on the rescue boat.

• 

  The 'Abeille Languedoc' has been moored in Cherbourg for 26 years, monitoring the Channel between the Cotentin and the Pas-de-Calais.

• 

  Migrants sit on board the 'Abeille Languedoc' after being rescued.

• 

  A rescuer carries a child as they disembark from the 'Abeille Languedoc'.

Human smugglers, many of them based in Libya, launch flimsy rubber or plastic dinghies and rickety fishing boats towards Italian shores, typically after charging the migrants thousands of dollars for the dangerous passage.

Most of those migrants who make it to Italy are fleeing poverty, not war or persecution, and thus risk having their asylum requests denied by Italian authorities.

Italy’s two-month-old government, led by far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has said it wants to discourage charity rescue missions, contending that those operations essentially help the smugglers’ business.

For years, Italy has said that because many of the migrants hope to obtain work in northern Europe, other EU nations should host a large number of the rescued migrants who reach Italian shores.

Desperate migrants continue to risk lives to cross English Channel - video

By assigning ports on the Italian mainland, instead of inSicily, hundreds of kilometres closer to the scenes of rescue, Italian authorities essentially force the charity boats to spend more days to reach the mainland docks and thus have fewer days to spend at sea aiding migrants.

A key partner in Ms Meloni’s coalition is the right-wing League, a party led by the anti-migrant Matteo Salvini.