Mercy ship makes first rescues since Italy row

The crew of a humanitarian ship rescued 141 migrants from wooden boats off the coast of Libya on Friday in its first mission since it was caught in a standoff between Italy and Malta over their refusal to let migrants ashore.

When Italy turned the Aquarius away in June and Malta followed suit, the ship spent nine days at sea before the migrants were allowed into Spain. The row also drew in the EU and France, and political tension has persisted between Rome and Paris since.

Run by the Franco-German charity SOS Mediterranee and Doctors without Borders, the Aquarius rescued 25 migrants about 25 nautical miles off the Libyan coast.

Conditions were calm and sunny on Friday but the overloaded boat sat low in the water.

Later, 116 others were taken off a second wooden boat in the same area, including 38 women and 73 under the age of 18. Although larger, this vessel was also packed.

Italy’s government, which took power in June, refuses to take in migrants rescued by humanitarian ships, accusing them of acting as a “taxi service”. Rome wants to get EU partners to shoulder more of the burden of migrant arrivals.

The Aquarius has not yet been given a place of safety to put ashore those rescued on Friday. According to international law, refugees cannot be put back in harm’s way after being saved at sea.

As a result of pressure from Italy and Malta, most charity ships are no longer patrolling off the coast of Libya. More than 650,000 migrants have travelled to Italy’s shores since 2014.