The Rise Above, a humanitarian ship rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean, docked in Sicily this morning after receiving the green light from Italian authorities, the German non-governmental organization (NGO) Mission Lifeline announced.
“The odyssey of the 89 survivors and nine crew seems to be over. The Rise Above has entered the port of Reggio Calabria. Let’s hope that everything goes well and everyone on board can disembark,” the NGO wrote on the social network Twitter.
Four migrants had been rescued on Sunday for medical reasons from the ship, small compared to the other three NGO ships, with some 500 people on board, which are off the coast of Italy, which maintains severe restrictions or even prohibitions on disembarkation. .
After weeks at sea, the German-flagged ship Humanity 1, owned by the NGO SOS Humanity, was able to dock this Sunday in Catania to disembark 144 people, mostly women and minors.
On board, however, remain 35 adult male immigrants whom Italy has not allowed to enter the country.
The Geo Barents, a Norwegian-flagged Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) ship, also docked in Catania on Sunday night and Italian authorities authorized the disembarkation of 357 people, including children, denying entry to another 215.
The desperation of those stranded on board had led three migrants rescued by Geo Barents to jump overboard on Monday.
The Ocean Viking, owned by the European NGO SOS Méditerranée, also flying the Norwegian flag, has yet to enter an Italian port and was sailing off Syracuse this morning, a photographer on board told Agence France-Presse news.
“The situation aboard the Ocean Viking became unbearable for 234 survivors. After 17 days on board, their mental health is seriously affected: many suffer from insomnia and show significant signs of anxiety and depression,” warned the NGO Feria on Monday. .
On the same day, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urged European governments to guarantee the safe disembarkation, sharing responsibilities, of the hundreds of rescued migrants stranded on boats. of NGOs.
Most of the 88,000 people who arrived in Italy by sea this year were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard and other rescue ships run by the Italian state or arrived autonomously, the UNHCR and IOM reveal in the statement.
Italy’s new government has promised to take a hard line on immigrants. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said migrants rescued at sea are the responsibility of the state under whose flag the ships sail.
At least 1,337 people have gone missing along the Central Mediterranean flyway this year, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.
Source: TSF
