(VOVWORLD) - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Tuesday urgently called on European governments to take in 500 people rescued in the Mediterranean who remain stranded as countries bicker over who should take them.
 The Ocean Viking migrant ship saves people from the sea off Libya on August 10, 2019 (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
UNHCR special envoy Vincent Cochetel said this is a race against time because the storms are coming and conditions are only going to get worse.
The migrants are aboard two ships chartered by humanitarian aid groups, but Italy’s anti-migrant government is denying them access to its ports. The UNHCR says nearly 600 people have died or gone missing in waters between Libya and Italy this year.