How difficult was it to continue operations in recent months and what forced you to stop them?

Liu: "The last few months, rescuing people in the Mediterranean was made more and more difficult for us. We were regularly blocked and impeded in trying to save lives. We tried to get a flag for several weeks but things didn't work out. First Gibraltar and then Panama, under increasing pressure from different states, decided to withdraw the flag. So we decided that we needed to close that sequence and see how we go forward."

What happens now with the Aquarius and the rescue mission?

Liu: "With the sabotage of the Aquarius, gone is the most basic humanitarian and legal commitment: saving lives at sea. For the time being, we are re-assessing so it's a bit too early to answer that. We can't resume unless we have a boat flag. There's no sign of that happening right now. We will talk to... countries and put forward what the reality is."

"It's clear that migration is a very, very politically loaded issue. Countries need to understand that human rights of a person do not disappear as soon as they cross the border."

What are the countries opposing your operations saying to this?

Liu: "Right now, it is being portrayed that the number of migrants reaching the shores of Europe is decreasing. That's being shown as a success story by these people. But on the flip side, that's because more and more people are being rescued by the Libyan coastguards and taken back to the filthy, overcrowded detention centers in Libya where almost 5,000 of them are living in inhumane conditions. We're telling them that the cost of their success is human lives and dignity."  

Go deeper: Read the full Al Jazeera report.

"Since 2004, we've aborted 500,000 attempts to cross into Europe, mainly via sea, and dismantled around 3,000 networks. We have around 13,000 guards in the north covering around 1,100km. That patrolling is costing Morocco over 200m euros ($228m) annually," Khalid Zerouali, Morocco's border control chief, said.

• These "preventive measures" include routine police raids to move migrants from the country's north to the south. According to Amnesty International, at least 5,000 people have been "swept up in the raids" around Morocco, "piled onto buses and abandoned in remote areas close to the Algerian border or in the south".
• "Morocco is using these migrants as a pressure card in negotiations with the European Union,” says Said Tbel, of the Moroccan Human Rights Association. “It takes them to the border cities to put pressure on Europe. When they get what they want, these migrants are moved back south."
• "I have been taken to the south 10 times," a migrant from Ivory Coast, who did not wish to be identified, said at a camp by the main bus station in the port city of Casablanca. "I was arrested and put in a police car with dogs. From the police station, I was put on a bus with other migrants and taken near the Algerian border. I then had to beg on the streets to make enough money for a bus ride back up."

Go deeper...

• Read the full Al Jazeera report
• Q&A: Morocco's border chief hits back at criticism
• Raped, abused and harassed: Tale of female migrants in Morocco

A rise in fake stories and anti-Islam propaganda online has spurred on the protesters but, according to Il Lee, a human rights lawyer, the anti-refugee sentiment is not new in Korea. There are also worries that the spread of false information is going unnoticed and the government's apparent lack of involvement in the matter has failed to calm down the situation.

• "There is a strong phenomenon in Korea that people blame foreigners for everything that goes wrong," said Lee. "But when it comes to the Yemeni asylum seekers, there is a strong anti-Islam sentiment.”
• In an interview with Al Jazeera, Choo Mi-ae, chief of Korea's ruling party, admitted there was “lack of understanding and room for improvement.” She added that “the Korean public didn't have many opportunities to encounter cultural diversity.”
• Jeju has a population of around 600,000 and a recent survey of 500 islanders revealed 90% felt insecure about going outside since the Yemenis' arrival.