EUROPE’S borders are descending into chaos every day, a refugee rescue organisation has charged.

The comments came as 191 people on board two NGO ships continue their wait to be allowed onto dry land. 

The Italian authorities told the rescue ship Alan Kurdi last weekend that a coastguard ship would transfer the 149 refugees the crew rescued on April 6 to the coast following a ban on all foreign rescue ships from Italy’s ports last week.

The transfer appears to have been bogged down in bureaucracy as the Italian authorities had to wait for the approval of Germany, under whose flag and jurisdiction the Alan Kurdi sails. 

Spokesman for Sea Eye, the German charity which operates the Alan Kurdi, Simon Pompe told the Star today that the uncertainty was taking its toll on the refugees. 

“Overcrowding and sanitation are major concerns, and the psychological stress people are put under requires they be moved off our small ship as soon as possible,” Mr Pompe said.

The 39 refugees languishing on the Aita Maria, a ship operated by the Basque organisation Humanitarian Maritime Salvage (SMH) are also waiting to reach Europe.  

The vessel was on its way from Italy to Spain to resupply when it received a distress call from 43 refugees near its position. 

Without their rescue and medical colleagues on board, the Aita Maria’s crew located the refugees, provided them with life vests, food and water and waited for Maltese authorities to take over. 

The crew have yet to hear from Malta, which also announced last week that it was closing its borders to search and rescue ships. 

“Europe does not follow its own rules,” SMH tweeted yesterday. “Every day at our borders, the rule of law disappears.”

Four people were evacuated from the ship in the last 36 hours to Italy. However, as the Star went to press, no maritime authority has yet provided the Aita Maria with a port of safety.