Humanitarian aid group founder Rupert Neudeck dies aged 77

Rupert Neudeck, the co-founder of Germany-based humanitarian aid group Cap Anamur, which helped to rescue more than 10,000 Vietnamese “boat people”, has died aged 77, the organisation said.

Mr Neudeck, a former journalist who founded the Cologne-based organisation with his wife Christel in 1979 in response to the Vietnamese refugee crisis, died on Tuesday in Germany. Further details are not being released at the family’s request, the organisation said.

Following the Vietnamese crisis, Cap Anamur expanded to provide humanitarian aid globally, focusing on medical care and education.

In 2004, it clashed with the Italian government when it tried to dock in the country after rescuing 37 Africans from the Mediterranean.

It eventually landed in Sicily after a three-week stand-off, but the boat was immediately seized and most of the refugees were deported.

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