Twenty NGOs launched an “
urgent appeal
” on Monday November 7, 2022 to offer a safe port to the hundreds of “Mediterranean survivors” still stranded on board four humanitarian ships in or off Italian waters.
This text, relayed by SOS Méditerranée and signed in particular by Oxfam France, Action Contre la Faim, Emmaüs International, Médecins du Monde, Human Rights Watch and the Norwegian Refugee Council, "
urges Italy, Malta, the European States and the European Commission to facilitate the immediate disembarkation, in a place of safety, of all survivors currently stranded on board the rescue vessels Ocean Viking, Geo Barents, Humanity 1 and Rise Above in the central Mediterranean
”.
"
Malta's silence and Italy's general policy of delaying the disembarkation of survivors prolong the suffering of these people in search of safety
", insist these NGOs, noting that "
for several months, the delay in the designation of place of safety has grown alarmingly
.
SEE ALSO
- Ocean Viking: SOS Méditerranée asks for help to disembark 234 migrants
Only 357 people were able to disembark
If the Italian authorities authorized two of these ships to enter the port of Catania, in Sicily, they refused to let disembark all the migrants collected on board after having drifted in the central Mediterranean on makeshift boats from the Libyan coast.
Read alsoNew rescue of more than 70 migrants by the Ocean Viking in the Mediterranean
Thus, only 357 people, including children, were able to disembark from the Geo Barents, an MSF ship under the Norwegian flag which had docked on Sunday evening, 215 others remaining confined on board.
Similarly, 144 were able to get off Humanity 1, operated by the charity organization SOS Humanity, under the German flag, 35 other adult migrants, all male, having been forced to stay on board.
This sorting “
does not comply with maritime conventions
”, insists this call.
Similarly, the request of the Italian authorities to these two boats to leave with their unwanted passengers "
constitutes a violation of international law and is simply unacceptable from an ethical, moral and security point of view
", accuse these NGOs.
1765 migrants disappeared in the Mediterranean
Two other ships, the Ocean Viking, operated by the NGO SOS Méditerranée based in Marseille, with 234 migrants on board, and the Rise Above of the NGO Mission Lifetime, also under the German flag, are still looking for a port to enter.
"
We, the signatories, (...) are shocked by the disregard for the dignity and safety of the 573 survivors on board the four ships by Italy, Malta and their European partners
", continue these humanitarian organizations.
Since the beginning of the year, 1,765 migrants have disappeared in the Mediterranean, including 1,287 in the central Mediterranean, the most dangerous migratory route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
SEE ALSO
- Intrusion at SOS Méditerranée: the civil parties welcome the "firmness" of the indictment
