HUMANITARIAN groups which have helped rescue thousands of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea had charges accusing them of collaborating with smugglers dropped by an Italian court today.

Judges in the Sicilian city of Trapani decided not to proceed to trial against 10 crew members involved in the long-running case.

Staff members from Jugend Rettet, Save The Children and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) were fully acquitted of all the charges of aiding and abetting illegal immigration.