THOMAS LOHNES/AFP via Getty Images
6 May 2021
The German migrant taxi NGO Sea-Watch dropped off 454 migrants in the Sicilian port city of Trapani this week after Italian authorities granted the vessel port access.
The Sea-Watch 4 picked up 455 migrants after four separate encounters with vessels off the coast of Libya and elsewhere in the Mediterranean Sea over a 72-hour period. One of the migrants was evacuated for medical treatment by Italian authorities.
According to a report from the European Union-funded website Infomigrants, onboard the vessel were pregnant women, young children, and unaccompanied minor migrants. Sea-Watch claimed that some of those on board had made multiple attempts to cross the Mediterranean sea to reach Europe.
5 Mar 2021
The Italian migrant transport NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans has been accused of taking €125,000 to transport illegal aliens, with new claims alleging the group initially asked for as much as €270,000.
The claims revolve around a ship belonging to the Danish company Maersk which picked up 27 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea in August of last year. The NGO is accused of negotiating a payment to transfer the migrants to its transport vessel, the Mare Jonio, weeks later, on September 11th.
In November, Maersk reportedly transferred €125,000 ($151, 000/£108,000) to Idra Social Shipping, the company that owns the Mare Jonio. It is claimed that the money was negotiated before the NGO picking up the migrants and that initially the group had asked for €275,000 ($331,000/£237,000),