500 refugees stranded at sea as Europe argues over who should accept them

‘Storms are coming, and conditions are only going to get worse’

Zamira Rahim
Wednesday 14 August 2019 23:34 BST
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At least 500 refugees are stranded in the Mediterranean as European countries argue over who should rescue them.

The group were saved by humanitarian aid groups after trying to cross the sea from north Africa.

The refugees are stranded on two boats, the Spanish-flagged charity vessel Open Arms and Norweigian-flagged Ocean Viking.

Two charity groups, Doctors Without Borders and sea rescue group SOS Mediterranee are working on the Ocean Viking.

356 refugees are on board the vessel, while a further 150 rescued people on board Open Arms.

On Tuesday the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) urgently asked Europe's governments to let the passengers disembark.

"This is a race against time," said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR special envoy for the central Mediterranean.

"Storms are coming, and conditions are only going to get worse."

Mr Cochetel said the ships "must be immediately allowed to dock" and their passengers "allowed to receive much-needed humanitarian aid."

"To leave people who have fled war and violence in Libya on the high seas in this weather would be to inflict suffering upon suffering," he added.

Italy has closed its ports to refugee ships. The current situation is the latest standoff between European countries and rescue boats.

Richard Gere, the actor, visited Open Arms on Friday, met the people on board and brought them food and water.

On Wednesday an Italian court upheld an appeal filed by Open Arms and suspended the Italian Interior Ministry's decision to bar the ship from the country's waters.

The court ruled the ban violates international laws in light of the "exceptionally grave and urgent situation due to the protracted stay of the migrants on our boat," Open Arms said in a statement Wednesday.

The group said its ship is now heading towards Italian waters and expects to reach them Thursday morning.

Additionally, it has made new requests to both Italy and Malta for a port that will let them disembark the migrants on medical grounds.

Doctors Without Borders and SOS Mediterranee have both

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Shortly after the ruling, Matteo Salvini, Italy's hard-right interior minister and de facto leader, reiterated his objection to humanitarian ships entering Italian ports.

The Italian Interior Ministry said it will appeal Wednesday's court ruling.

Nearly 600 refugees have died or gone missing in waters between Libya, Italy and Malta so far in 2019.

Additional reporting by agencies

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