A Malta-based humanitarian group that has been rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean for three years said on Monday it was suspending operations after months of rising tensions with Italian and Libyan authorities.
The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) was instead sending its rescue ship, the Phoenix, to the Bay of Bengal to take aid to Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in Myanmar for Bangladesh, co-founder Regina Catrambone told Reuters by telephone.
MOAS is the fourth group to stop patrols for migrants trying the deadly Mediterranean crossing in the past month.