Alan Kurdi migrant vessel refused food and medicine

The rescue vessel Alan Kurdi has been refused food and medicine after a 24-hour period of waiting for a response from the Italian coastguard.

Migrant rescue charity Sea-Eye has reported that Italy tried to relay the call for help to Malta, with Malta’s rescue coordination responding: “Do not try to push this onto Malta,” according to the NGO.

Sea-Eye has said that the Alan Kurdi is not suitable for the accommodation of the current 150 migrants and told coastguards that in the next 48 hours, food was going to be required.

However, Libya, Italy and Malta have declared their ports unsafe and made clear their intention not to allow further disembarkations.

Malta allowed the disembarkation of over 60 migrants on Thursday night but wrote to the European Commission saying that the island does not have the necessary resources for mass rescues and said that its port would be closed for illegal migrants.

“It’s not acceptable that we see multi-million rescue packages for the European industry, but at the same time, it’s claimed that there are no resources for the protection of migrants,” Gordon Isler, Sea-Eye chairman said in a statement on Friday.

The maritime rescue vessel sailed to northwestern Sicily on Friday to seek shelter from the incoming heavy weather.