A dispute continues between NGOs operating in the Mediterranean and the Italian government, after Italy passed a decree to tighten regulations against the operation of rescue ships. The interior minister has been meeting with Mediterranean neighbors to try and cut down on migration.
The MSF rescue ship in the Mediterranean was racing to help a migrant boat in distress on Monday, but feared doing so might break the far-right Italian government's new law on life-saving missions.
On December 31st, in the presence of dozens of police, coast guard officials and medics, the Ocean Viking rescue ship disembarked the last of 113 migrants at the port of Ravenna in northern Italy. Frey Lindsay reports for InfoMigrants.
The Italian government is working on introducing tougher measures to limit the capacities of private rescue organizations carrying out rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. Italy says sanctions will be included in a new code of conduct.
Tunisian authorities have recovered the bodies of four people believed to be African migrants, including a pregnant woman, off the coast of Kerkennah Island in the Central Mediterranean.