After two days of sending out distress calls from a satellite phone in the Mediterranean Sea, 44 people, mostly sub-Saharans, were rescued by an Italian military vessel on November 10. UNHCR was alerted that relatives of some of the passengers onboard the boat called from a satellite phone on Tuesday evening. Italian navy took this initiative despite the fact that the boat was in Maltese search and rescue waters.
| Complaint by the UNHCR that it took the Italians 48 hours excised. |
A woman with a small baby was evacuated by helicopter to Sicily from Lampedusa.
This is the first boat originating from Libya that has arrived in Europe since August 17th. |