Rescue in the Mediterranean: "Ocean Viking" fetches migrants from a rubber boat - two people found dead
Created: 03/28/2022, 15:45
By: Anika Zuschke
The aid organization "SOS Méditerranée" has rescued 128 migrants from an overcrowded rubber boat in the Mediterranean.
Two people were found dead.
Tripoli – The sea rescue workers from the organization "SOS Méditerranée" rescued 128 migrants from an overcrowded rubber boat with their ship "Ocean Viking".
The difficult mission in the Mediterranean took place last Friday, March 25, 2022. According to the organization, any help came too late for two people, they were found dead on the boat.
Due to the extreme weather conditions, only one body could be recovered, SOS Méditerranée said on Twitter.
Rescue in the Mediterranean: the ship "Ocean Viking" fetches 128 people from an unseaworthy rubber dinghy
The previous Thursday, the "Ocean Viking" had rescued 30 people from an unseaworthy inflatable boat off the Libyan coast, reports
tagesschau.de
.
When the 128 men, women and children were rescued, they were already on board the offshore supplier.
According to Welt
, the ship then made its way to Sicily on Saturday.
During a mission at the end of last year, the organization "SOS Mediterranee" already managed to rescue more than 110 people from distress at sea - including an eleven-day-old baby.
Sea rescuers usually try to take the rescued people to ports in Sicily or on the southern Italian mainland.
But it often takes days before the authorities can assign the organizations a safe haven.
Last November, the sea rescue ship "Sea-Eye 4" of the German aid organization Sea-Eye with more than 800 people had to wait for days for a safe port - after all, they were allowed to dock in Sicily.
The ship "Sea-Eye 4" is currently also in use in the central Mediterranean off the Libyan coast to rescue migrants in distress at sea.
The ship "Ocean Viking" rescued 128 refugees from an overcrowded rubber boat in the Mediterranean during a difficult operation.
(Archive image) © Renata Brito/dpa/AP
Migrants from Libya flee human rights violations - crossing extremely dangerous
Desperate people dare to cross to Europe in often unseaworthy and overcrowded boats, hoping for a better life there.
In Libya, many of them suffer torture and other human rights violations, reports
tagesschau.de
.
However, there is currently no state-organized sea rescue mission in the Mediterranean for people in need.
According to the Organization for Migration (IOM), the Mediterranean Sea is probably the most dangerous refugee route in the world.
As a result, 348 people have died or are missing during the crossing since the beginning of this year.
The number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher.
The organization "SOS Méditerranée" was founded in 2015 and, according to
tagesschau.de
, has since rescued more than 34,800 people from distress at sea.
The ship "Ocean Viking" has been used for sea rescue in the Mediterranean since summer 2019 and acts as an offshore supplier under the Norwegian flag.
The Ukraine war is also currently fueling fears* of global famine and new waves of refugees.
The loss of Ukraine as a grain supplier is already endangering the food supply, especially in Africa.
Italy: Interior Ministry records more migrants than last year
In Italy, the Interior Ministry has already recorded more than 6,500 migrants arriving by boat this year (as of Thursday, March 24).
The figure is higher than that from the same period last year, which was around 6180 at the time,
World
reports .
Among the migrants were 830 unaccompanied minors.
*
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is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
