The ship Ocean Viking, of the organization SOS Méditerranée, rescued 95 people in the central Mediterranean, while the Geo Barentsz, of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), this Thursday with another 237 migrants to the port of La Spezia, in the northeast of Italy followed.
“The Ocean Viking has rescued 95 people from an overloaded boat in international waters off Libya, following the alarm of the Seabird2 (an aircraft that locates migrant boats in distress),” the non-governmental organization (NGO) reported.
SOS Méditerranée added that the migrants “later reported that at least four people had fallen into the water before the arrival” of the rescue team.
“We searched for them alone for hours. The two Libyan patrol boats present in the area left without responding to our requests for support in the search for the missing,” the organization said.
Meanwhile, the ship Geo Barents was carrying 237 migrants on board this morning after three rescues in the Mediterranean Sea.
On its journey north to port, after an initial rescue of 69 migrants on Tuesday afternoon, the ship carried out a second rescue of 61 people (including 13 women and 24 minors) and a third of 107 people traveling on an overcrowded boat .
The Geo Barents had been cleared to dock in the port of La Spezia, 100 hours from her area of operations in the Central Mediterranean.
Rescue operations carried out after this appointment violate new rules introduced by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government on humanitarian ships, which require permission to operate and prohibit further rescues when ships have already been allowed to disembark .
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said he reserves the right to check whether any violations have been committed.
MSF reminds that “under international law, providing assistance to people in distress at sea is a legal obligation”.
More than 3,900 migrants have arrived in Italy via the Central Mediterranean this year, compared to 1,700 in the same period last year, according to data from the Italian government.
Source: DN
