Image copyright AFP Image caption The Aquarius has been stuck in Marseille since its registration was revoked

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it has been forced to end migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean carried out by the vessel Aquarius. The two international charities were pressured by the European Union to put their ship, the Aquarius into dry dock and abandon their life-saving rescue mission. “The end of our operations onboard the Aquarius will mean more death in the sea, deaths that are avoidable and without witnesses,” Nelke Mander, MSF’s general director, said late on Thursday. Nearly 5,000 migrants died in 2016 while trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East to flee war and poverty, according to the UN agency International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) rescue vessel Aquarius 2 ends migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, citing sustained attacks on search and rescue by European governments, particularly Italy.