Status: 04.08.2022 11:32 a.m
The “Geo Barents” with a total of 659 refugees on board has received permission to dock in Italy after days of waiting. The crew had rescued people from the Mediterranean Sea within days.
After more than a week on the Mediterranean, the 659 refugees aboard the rescue ship Geo Barents can go ashore in Italy. The authorities have assigned the crew to the port of Taranto to land, said the aid organization Doctors Without Borders, which operates the ship. The waiting time of almost nine days is one of the longest blockages that the team has experienced. “This must not happen again.”
The crew of the “Geo Barents” had rescued people from distress on several missions within a few days. According to Doctors Without Borders, more than 150 minors are on board. The crew had recently described the situation on the ship as precarious and announced that food rations were running out. Two rescued had tried to jump overboard out of desperation after the long wait.
State rescue mission required
There is no state-organized rescue mission in the Mediterranean, only the ships of private organizations are on the lookout for refugees in distress at sea. The crews always have to wait a long time for a port in Italy to be assigned. Malta has been refusing the helpers to land for months.
In addition to the “Geo Barents”, the “Sea-Eye 4” of the organization of the same name is currently deployed in the Mediterranean and has 88 survivors on board so far. Yesterday, several organizations called for the establishment of a state-organized rescue mission in the Mediterranean.
For many people stranded in Libya, crossing the Mediterranean Sea is their last hope of escaping violence and a lack of prospects. This escape route is one of the most dangerous in the world. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 1,081 people have died or are missing while crossing the Mediterranean Sea since the beginning of the year. The number of unreported cases could be much higher.