According to Italian and Maltese data, rescued migrants have captured a merchant ship off Libya. According to them, they are currently heading north.
The Maltese army said the ship was heading for Malta. The Maltese authorities had been informed about a "ship at sea", said a spokeswoman for the news agency dpa. The Italian news agency Ansa also sees Lampedusa as a possible destination.
According to Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of the right-wing Lega party, the merchant ship "Elhiblu" in the Mediterranean had taken in a group of migrants off the Libyan coast, but suddenly changed course north about six nautical miles off the capital Tripoli.
Apparently 108 migrants on board, including women and children
The captain had set off an alert, the Maltese authorities continued. The ship will probably reach on Thursday morning, the waters off the Mediterranean island. Malta's army confirmed the incident also the "Malta Times", one is on standby. A spokesman said they would not allow the ship to enter Maltese waters.
According to Italian and Maltese media, there are 108 migrants on board the ship flying the flag of the island state of Palau. On board should also be women and children.
The aid organization Doctors Without Borders speaks of a "dangerous situation" that shows the great despair of people fleeing. "EU policy is increasingly jeopardizing people and putting merchant ships in an impossible position."
Barely any rescue ships from Libya
Both Italy and Malta do not want to accommodate boat refugees unless there is an EU-wide distribution mechanism. In front of the Libyan coast, hardly any rescue ships are in use, the boats of relief organizations were repeatedly blocked or withdrawn from the sea.
The EU has also stopped its naval operations off the Libyan coast. The decision officially confirmed on Wednesday stipulates that air reconnaissance should be operated instead of the use of ships. According to SPIEGEL information, drones should also be used.
In addition, Libyan coastal protectors are to be trained. These are to bring the migrants back to the civil war country, where the people, however, threaten severe mistreatment. Again and again migrants fight back to Libya.
Aid organizations talk about inhumane conditions on the ground and even about "concentration camps" in which migrants are also subjected to torture. In November, about 90 migrants refused to leave a container ship that had returned them to Libya.