- Title: Two rescue ships float near Lampedusa as Italy denies entry
- Date: 1st September 2019
- Summary: AT SEA (AUGUST 31, 2019) (REUTERS) ITALIAN NGO 'MEDITERRANEA SAVING HUMANS' MIGRANT RESCUE SHIP 'MARE JONIO' AT SEA SEEN FROM GERMAN NGO 'SEA-EYE' MIGRANT RESCUE SHIP 'ALAN KURDI' CREW MEMBERS OF THE TWO RESCUE SHIPS TALKING MIGRANTS ON DECK OF THE 'MARE JONIO' SEEN FROM THE 'ALAN KURDI' CREW MEMBERS OF THE 'ALAN KURDI' LOOKING AT ITALIAN FINANCE POLICE SPEEDBOAT AT SEA / 'MARE JONIO' RESCUE SHIP AT SEA ITALIAN FINANCE POLICE SPEEDBOAT NEAR 'MARE JONIO' RESCUE SHIP VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS ON DECK OF 'ALAN KURDI' RESCUE SHIP MIGRANTS AND CREW MEMBERS OF 'ALAN KURDI' RESCUE SHIP POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS MAN LOOKING AT SEA THROUGH BINOCULARS ITALIAN FINANCE POLICE PATROL BOAT AT SEA PEOPLE ON DECK OF 'ALAN KURDI' RESCUE SHIP CREW MEMBER OF 'ALAN KURDI' RESCUE SHIP GIVING INSTRUCTIONS SILHOUETTES OF MIGRANTS ON DECK OF 'ALAN KURDI' RESCUE SHIP MIGRANTS ON DECK OF 'ALAN KURDI' RESCUE SHIP LOOKING AT 'MARE JONIO' RESCUE SHIP AT SEA CREW MEMBERS OF 'ALAN KURDI' RESCUE SHIP TALKING CREW MEMBER OF 'ALAN KURDI' RESCUE SHIP LOOKING AT 'MARE JONIO' RESCUE SHIP FROM DECK
- Embargoed: 15th September 2019 09:54
- Keywords: Mediterranean Sea Italy Europe Mediterranea Saving Humans Malta rescue ship Alan Kurdi League leader Matteo Salvini Sea-Eye rescue ship Mare Jonio migrants
- Location: AT SEA
- City: AT SEA
- Country: At Sea
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUTTD1J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Two rescue ships carrying migrants met at sea on Saturday (August 31) as the stand-off with Italy and Malta over the fate of the rescued migrants continues.
On Saturday evening, the Alan Kurdi boat, operated by the German NGO Sea-Eye, was opposite the Italian rescue ship Mare Jonio, operated by Italian charity 'Mediterranea Saving Humans' outside Italian territorial waters close to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.
Earlier on Saturday the Alan Kurdi rescued 13 migrants from a small wooden craft in the Mediterranean, 34 nautical miles southwest of Lampedusa. The migrants, all young men in good health, said they were from Tunisia.
Earlier this week Rome agreed to allow women, children and sick people on board of the Mare Jonio to disembark through a transfer operated by coastguards but refused to lift its ban on the ship entering Italian waters.
On Sunday (September 1) morning, the Alan Kurdi began heading towards Malta after Rome denied the permission to enter its territorial waters, a crew member said.
It was named after a three-year-old Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean four years ago.
Italian authorities are banning non-governmental organisations from bringing migrants ashore after Italy's outgoing interior minister Matteo Salvini has imposed a closed ports policy in the last year to stem illegal immigration from North Africa, calling for other European countries to share responsibility for refugees' shelter.
(Production: Darrin Zammit Lupi, Fabiano Franchitti, Emily Roe) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None