UN refugee chief calls on EU to restore search-and-rescue operations. 

On the sixth anniversary of a shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa that claimed at least 368 lives, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called on EU States to urgently restore full search-and-rescue capacity to the Mediterranean.

He also said it was time to “thank and acknowledge” the crucial work of NGO rescue ships in preventing deaths at sea. “Their efforts should be praised, not criminalized nor stigmatized,” said Grandi.

He added that amid worsening violence in Libya, the country “cannot be considered a safe place for returning people rescued at sea”.

EU interior ministers are due to meet in Luxembourg on 8 October to discuss a joint declaration agreed upon by France, Germany, Italy and Malta last month to establish a temporary mechanism for Member States to share responsibility for people rescued at sea.

Rights groups are calling on ministers to ensure the plan does not require rescue vessels to disembark passengers in Libya.

Via UNHCR