The Astral sailboat, from Open Arms, rescued 60 people overnight, including pregnant women and children who were traveling in four precarious boats, after following instructions from the Italian authorities, the Spanish organization announced this Friday.
“A very difficult night for the Astral crew. After a few hours of searching, our sailboat came across four precarious and overcrowded boats, with a high risk of sinking,” the non-governmental organization (NGO) explained on its social networks.
A very difficult night for the crew #Astral
After hours of searching, we located 4 iron ships that were heavily overloaded and in poor condition, with a high risk of shipwreck. They impregnate women and babies with symptoms of hypothermia.
Coordinates… pic.twitter.com/YzA0WCkvd5– Open Arms (@openarms_fund) August 11, 2023
Astral, which usually rescues migrants in distress at sea until they are rescued by a more suitable ship, was instructed to rescue these people, of whom “pregnant women and many small children were at risk of hypothermia.”
“Following the instructions of the Italian authorities, we distributed life jackets (…) and then rescued 60 people, including 20 women and five small children who are on board our sailboat,” he added.
By Thursday, Astral had already carried out four difficult operations, locating 105 migrants, including women and children, in four precarious boats that were in great danger, all close to the Italian island of Lampedusa, where the landings of migrants do not stop, in mostly from Tunisia. .
This Friday, more than two thousand migrants are in the overcrowded reception center of Lampedusa, despite its capacity for between 300 and 400 people and the continuous transfers of migrants carried out by the Italian authorities to other locations.
According to the latest data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, this year about 94,000 immigrants landed on the Italian coast, more than double the 45,000 in the same period last year.
According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the central Mediterranean – between North Africa and Italy – is currently the most dangerous migratory route in the world. Since 2014, the IOM has counted more than 20,000 deaths.
Source: TSF
