Imminent rough weather awaits stranded migrants, crew abandoned off Malta

An NGO has raised the alarm bells as imminent rough weather is expected to hit migrants and crew stuck for days in a watery limbo between Libya and Malta. Two rescue vessels run by German NGOs remain stranded at sea and "held hostage by EU states" as they carry 49 rescued people and several crew members into the new year amid rough sea warnings. The Sea-Watch 3 rescued 32 people in distress at sea on December 22, and last Saturday, Sea-Eye’s Professor Albrecht Penck rescued 17 people in the central Mediterranean. A number of countries, including Malta, have barred their ports, amid a clampdown against NGO rescue boats. Read: Rescue boat still stranded with 33 migrants on board "The weather is taking a turn for the worse tonight," Ruben Neugebauer told Times of Malta. Both rescue vessels have sailed north in a timely manner and are now on standby to disembark all migrants in a safe European port. Disembarkation in Malta would be the most logical option, with a view to redistribute people among EU states, the NGO said on Monday.  "Malta has already allowed landings of people rescued at sea before if other European states agreed on an immediate relocation of people to other...