The situation on board the German rescue ship "Alan Kurdi" is becoming ever more dramatic. One of the eight migrants who are stuck on the high seas since August 31, have tried to jump overboard, said the spokesman for the Regensburg-based association Sea-Eye, Gorden Isler, via Twitter. The incident was described as a suicide attempt.
The ship is located about 35 kilometers south of Malta and had until Sunday evening, no permission to head for a safe haven. The head of the "Alan Kurdi" is waiting for an answer from the Maltese Rescue Coordination Center.
A message to the Maltese authorities said it was a 17-year-old Tunisian with signs of "anorexia, increasing mental instability, depression / aggression". Before him, another young person is said to have attempted suicide. This and four other migrants were now allowed to land in Malta. The rescue ship had stolen 13 people from an overloaded wooden boat on 31 August, including eight minors.
Isler said Sea-Eye had petitioned a Maltese court in the hope that the judges would force the Maltese authorities to act. "Why this danger, this humiliation and this unnecessary suffering," said the spokesman. Italy and Malta have repeatedly rejected rescue ships in recent months.
Meanwhile, the rescue vessel "Ocean Viking" of the aid organizations Doctors Without Borders and SOS Méditerranée off the coast of Libya hosted 50 migrants, including twelve minors and one pregnant woman. Your boat had been in distress in international waters, the operators said. The rescue took almost three hours.
