Another successful rescue operation. I’ocean vikingan ambulance ship chartered by SOS Mediterranean, rescued 86 people in distress off Libya on Tuesday who were trying to reach Europe on a makeshift boat, the humanitarian NGO said in a statement. “The survivors, mostly from Gambia and Senegal, are suffering from dehydration, exhaustion and fuel burns,” said a spokesperson for the NGO.
They would be mostly minors and attempted this perilous crossing without being accompanied by their relatives. They are now cared for by teams from SOS Méditerranée and the International Federation of the Red Cross on board theocean viking. The Italian authorities have designated Bari as a safe port for the disembarkation of the survivors, which represents three days of navigation, regretted the NGO.
The central Mediterranean, the most dangerous migratory route in the world
In early January, several international NGOs involved in rescue operations for migrants in the Mediterranean denounced the desire of the far-right Italian government “to hinder assistance to people in distress”. They pointed to the cross-effects of a decree obliging ships to go “without delay” to an Italian port after each rescue, and the usual assignment of very distant ports, reducing the capacity for assistance.
The central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN agency estimates that since the beginning of 2023, 1,724 migrants have disappeared there, compared to 1,417 over the whole of 2022. In June, a shipwreck presented as one of the most serious involving migrants in the Mediterranean left at least 82 dead, but in the Eastern Mediterranean.