In Italy, at least 250 asylum seekers aboard humanitarian rescue ships remain stranded off the coast of Sicily after officials barred them from disembarking on Italian soil on Sunday. Only select asylum seekers from those boats, including children and others deemed sick or “vulnerable” by the Italian government, were granted entry to Italy. Meanwhile, two other rescue vessels remain at sea with hundreds of asylum seekers aboard, with no port willing to grant them refuge. The two-week-old, far-right government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to block foreign-run migrant rescue ships as part of a brutal crackdown on asylum seekers arriving from the Mediterranean. This is the captain of the rescue boat Humanity 1, run by the German NGO SOS Humanity, who has refused to depart the Sicilian coast until everyone on board disembarks.

Joachim Ebeling: “I urge for a place of safety for all the people on board. It’s not only the 104 unaccompanied minors, but all the people on board need a place of safety. By law, they have the right to disembark in a place of safety.”