In the Mediterranean, humanitarian aid workers are continuing to search for a boat carrying hundreds of migrants that’s been missing since Wednesday morning. The boat was reportedly adrift, with no working engine, in the middle of the sea between the northern Libyan coast and the Italian island of Sicily. This is Albert Mayordomo with the Italian humanitarian aid group Emergency NGO, speaking from aboard the rescue vessel, Life Support.

Albert Mayordomo: “On board, there are 500 people, including 45 women, also pregnant, and 56 children, one born on board. We tried our best to find these people, and we will look for them until tonight. Unfortunately, after 32 hours of navigation to reach the distress, and 24 hours of active search, we still have not found them. However, it is unacceptable that NGOs and not coastal states defend lives in the Mediterranean Sea. We asked Malta and Italy to take on the operation’s responsibility, but they refused to share any information.”

In related news in France, five soldiers have been criminally charged, accused of refusing to rescue a group of migrants, resulting in the deaths of 27 people as they crossed the English Channel in a small boat in November 2021.