Once again, a ship rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean Sea is left adrift at sea. Maltese and Italian authorities are refusing to allow the ship „Lifeline“, with 220 refugees on board, to dock in their ports. Both countries closed their ports two weeks ago to a ship with around 630 refugees on board. The new Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, ordered that the ship „Aquarius“ must not enter Italian ports, as the island nation of Malta was responsible for it. Malta refused.

Following this, the newly elected Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez offered the ship refuge in Spain. As our infographic based on United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR data shows, the number of people arriving in Europe via the Mediterranean has declined since its peak in 2015. Spain has overtaken Italy this year (as of end June) to receive the most arrivals by sea. Numbers arriving in Greece have fallen in recent years due to an EU-Turkey deal being in force which stops migration along that route. UNHCR estimates that more than 16,300 people have gone missing or are presumed dead on the Mediterranean route alone, between 2014 and June 2018.