Berlin: Germany’s navy said on Saturday it has rescued more than 10,000 refugees at sea this year, including more than 500 people off the coast of Libya on December 25.
“The German navy’s ships rescued 10,528 people since May 7, 2015,” when its fleet launched a rescue operation, the Bundeswehr said on its website.
One ship went into action on Friday some 40 kilometres from the Libyan coast, rescuing 539 people on board three inflatable boats and a wooden vessel.
A frigate and a patrol boat from Italy as well as a Maltese tanker assisted in the latest rescue operation.
Two German ships are taking part in the European Union’s rescue plan, code-named Operation Sophia.
The United Nations refugee agency and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said this week more than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe this year, most of them by sea.
Nearly 3,700 people drowned or went missing at sea, the IOM said.
