Overview

• Sea Watch has been prevented from deploying its fast rescue ship Aurora in Lampedusa since mid-July following an administrative detention after it changed its assigned port.
• A merchant vessel, Port Fukuka, responded to a distress call nearly 30 hours after the boat was first sighted, and its rescue attempt capsized the overloaded migrant craft, killing two children and leaving one person missing.
• Frontex rejects Sea Watch’s version of events, saying its patrol aircraft provided continuous aerial coordination, relayed distress calls and even dropped a life raft to aid the rescue.
• Migrants taken aboard Port Fukuka remain stranded at sea and face the risk of interception by Libya’s coast guard, which could return them to Libya where they may face torture or death.
• NGOs and rights groups warn that coordination gaps among Italian, Maltese and EU maritime authorities are causing fatal delays in central Mediterranean search-and-rescue operations.