The rescue ship Aquarius, chartered by French aid group SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), leaves the harbour of Marseille, southeastern France, on August 1, 2018 / AFP PHOTO / BORIS HORVAT
The rescue ship Aquarius, chartered by French aid group SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), leaves the harbour of Marseille, southeastern France, on August 1, 2018 / AFP PHOTO / BORIS Show more

Migrant rescue ship Aquarius won't take people back to Libya



The rescue ship Aquarius, which has picked up almost 3,000 migrants from the Mediterranean this year, will carry out rescue missions without waiting for orders from coastguards and will not return people to Libya, its search and rescue head said.

"When we see there is a vessel in distress with a high likelihood of people dying, we will go and rescue them immediately as per international maritime law," Nick Romaniuk told Reuters on board Aquarius.

Over the last year co-ordination centres asking rescue vessels to go on standby or wait for clarification on certain things had added to the danger of people needing to be rescued, which is why they would no longer wait, he said.

The 77-metre vessel, operated by Franco-German charity SOS Mediterranee, set sail from Marseille this week on its tenth mission of the year.

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The ship will be patrolling between 25 to 30 miles from the Libyan coast, west of Tripoli, an area that is outside Libya's territorial waters but inside the Libyan search and rescue region.

International law states the country responsible for operations in an area has primary responsibility for disembarking rescue ships.

Mr Romaniuk said that while Aquarius would continue to abide by international maritime law, it would not be taking people back to Libya because it was not a safe country, putting it at odds with the wishes of the new Italian government.

"Libya is still not recognised as a port of safety, so [we] will not be taking people back there, because ... a rescue cannot terminate in a place which is not deemed a port of safety," he said.

"It has to continue for the time being to be European ports. But again, it's not our decision to make, maritime authorities, they make that decision, but our red line will be not taking people back to Libya," he said.

In the past the Aquarius has waited for orders from the responsible authorities before moving ahead to rescue migrants aiming to reach Italy from Libya.

But Italy has toughened its stance since the new government, a coalition including the anti-immigrant League party, took office this year.

Interior minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, has led a policy to shut ports to charity ships that pick up migrants from overcrowded smugglers' boats. He now wants as many as possible to be picked up by Libyan coastguards and returned.

In June, the Aquarius picked up 629 migrants off the coast of Libya, planning to take them to the nearest European port — the usual practice with such rescue missions. But the Italian government asked the ship to go to Malta rather than Italy, triggering a stand-off between Italy and the rest of the European Union.

Mr Salvini has accused SOS Mediterranee and other charities of acting like a Mediterranean "taxi service" for the migrants.

The Aquarius is one of a number of NGO-supported ships that have carried out rescue operations in the southern Mediterranean, alongside the Italian navy and EU-led missions.

A rescue boat operated by the Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms this week rescued 87 migrants in the southern Mediterranean in international waters.

More than 10,000 migrants have drowned in the region since 2014, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction

Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.

Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.

Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.

Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.

Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.

What are the guidelines?

Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.

Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.

Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.

Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.

Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.

Source: American Paediatric Association
House-hunting

Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove

  1. Edinburgh, Scotland 
  2. Westminster, London 
  3. Camden, London 
  4. Glasgow, Scotland 
  5. Islington, London 
  6. Kensington and Chelsea, London 
  7. Highlands, Scotland 
  8. Argyll and Bute, Scotland 
  9. Fife, Scotland 
  10. Tower Hamlets, London 

 

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

NYBL PROFILE

Company name: Nybl 

Date started: November 2018

Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence

Initial investment: $500,000

Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)

Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up 

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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