A German charity rescue ship has picked up 64 migrants, including women and children, stranded off Libya while trying to cross the Mediterranean and enter Europe. The Watch the Med association said it received a call for help from the stricken inflatable at around 0830 GMT on Wednesday.
"The authorities were unreachable," Watch the Med said of the Libyan coastguard charged with search and rescue operations in the zone off Zouara. Charities frequently accuse the Libyan authorities of failing to rescue migrants, while rights groups say migrants face abuses in Libya.
Instead, German charity Sea-Watch's Alan Kurdi rescue vessel, named after a Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015, went to rescue the migrants. "They're all safe and sound on board our vessel," Sea-Eye said. "The Libyan coastguard is not answering or rescuing."
Italy's far right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini made his oft-stated hardline position on immigration crystal clear Wednesday evening. "A German-registered vessel, a German NGO, a German ship owner and a skipper from Hamburg - best it heads for Hamburg," said Salvini.
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