Second group suspends migrant rescues, cites Libyan threats
ROME — A second humanitarian group in two days has reluctantly decided to suspend migrant rescues in the Mediterranean Sea due to Libyan threats, and other charities with rescue ships on Sunday were considering doing the same.
Germany-based Sea-Eye said it made the decision to halt its water rescues “with a heavy heart,” but for the sake of its crew’s safety.
Sea-Eye cited the “changed security situation in the Western Mediterranean” following the Tripoli-based government’s announcement it was extending its territorial waters.
Save the Children said its rescue ship was staying in Malta after Libya declared that its search-and-rescue area now will extend far beyond the 12 nautical miles Italy and other countries consider the limit of its territorial waters.