L’ocean vikingthe humanitarian ship of SOS Méditerranée, rescued 73 migrants on Tuesday during two consecutive rescues in international waters off Libya, bringing the number of survivors on board to 146, the NGO announced on Wednesday.
The NGO teams first rescued 33 people, including four minors (including two unaccompanied), who were on board “an unseaworthy and overcrowded wooden boat”, said in a statement. press release SOS Méditerranée, headquartered in Marseille.
Shortly after, theocean viking rescued 40 people (including ten women, nine unaccompanied minors and three children under the age of four) aboard “a drifting fiberglass boat which was dangerously heeling”, added the NGO .
The central Mediterranean, the most dangerous migratory route in the world
These two new rescues, after two previous operations over the weekend, bring the total number of survivors rescued on board to 146.ocean viking by teams from SOS Méditerranée and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Since the beginning of the year, 1,762 migrants have disappeared in the Mediterranean, including 1,295 in the central Mediterranean, the most dangerous migratory route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN agency estimated the number of dead and missing in 2021 at 2,062 in the Mediterranean, including 1,567 for the central Mediterranean alone.
Italian Prime Minister wants to block migrants
Every year, thousands of people fleeing conflict or poverty try to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean from Libya, whose coasts are some 300 km from Italy.
New Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party, pledged on Tuesday to block the arrival of migrants from Africa, even though more than 1,300 people are currently in difficulty in the Mediterranean. according to the NGO Alarm Phone.
His new interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, has said he could stop NGO ships, and rescued migrants on board, from reaching Italy, reviving a controversial policy started in 2019 by Matteo Salvini, leader of the League and Deputy Prime Minister in the Meloni government.