SOS Mediterranee (NGO) launched a Friday 27 May appeal to the maritime authorities to allow some migrants to safely disembark at a port.
The ambulance ship chartered by NGO SOS Mediterranee, in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies(IFRC), has been involved in four rescue operations that have allowed it to rescue 296 migrants from Libya and Malta. SOS Mediterranee stated that 49 minors were among them, including a three-month-old baby and six pregnant women.
“Ocean Viking has received eight requests to provide safe disembarkation facilities for survivors since the May 19th rescues.” AFP spokeswoman for the European Association for Search and Rescue on the High Seas. It is headquartered in Marseille.
The NGO adds that despite all these requests, no solution has been found to the 296 children, women and men currently aboard the Ocean Viking. It can only provide temporary shelter.
A medical official from the ship captured the following: Some survivors show signs of violence during their stay in Libya; others are injured during crossings or have chronic conditions, which can lead to them needing medical attention ashore.
Libya is a key crossing point for thousands of migrants who seek to reach Europe each year by the Italian coasts. It’s about 300km away.
According to the International Organization for Migration, the central Mediterranean is the most dangerous route for migration in the world. According to the UN agency, there will be at most 1,553 people who are missing and dead in the central Mediterranean by 2021. SOS Mediterranee has rescued 35,630 people, including women, children, and men, with the help of the ships Aquarius, then Ocean Viking, since February 2016.
