The crew of the German rescue ship Sea Eye-4 rescued 84 boat refugees from distress at sea on Thursday morning. She was allegedly threatened by the Libyan coast guard, who pointed weapons at the boat.
According to Sea Eye-4, this jeopardized the rescue of the 84 migrants. Among the castaways were many women and families with children; four children were under two years old. A baby had to be given oxygen for a short time, it was said. The people were given life jackets, two had to be pulled immediately out of the water.
The organization criticized the Libyan coast guard. “During the rescue, weapons from a Libyan ship were aimed at the rescue boat crew. The brutal and ruthless behavior of the so-called Libyan Coast Guard has nothing to do with rescue operations at sea (…),” said Chairman Gorden Isler. The EU must stop collaborating with these violent and armed militias.
Here you can see tweets from the rescue operation.
Port assigned
On Thursday afternoon, Italian authorities assigned the Sea Eye-4 to the port of Ancona, about 800 nautical miles away. The ship would take four days to get there, so they requested a closer port, the aid agency said.
New EU partnership with Mauritania
The European Commission has now concluded a new migration partnership with Mauritania in North Africa. In this way, legal migration should be promoted while smuggling crime and human trafficking are combated. In addition, the country must be supported in taking in refugees and creating jobs for the population.
More and more people from the desert state are currently moving to the Canary Islands (Spain). More than 7,000 have been counted since the beginning of the year. Most come from Africa across the open Atlantic Ocean to the islands in small, barely seaworthy boats.
In February, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had already promised the country financial aid worth 210 million euros. The money should be used as humanitarian aid for migrants, she said during a visit to the capital.
Source: Krone
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