After eight unanswered calls, SOS Méditerranée is still looking for “a safe port to disembark 296 migrants”

The Ocean Viking, rescue ship of the NGO SOS Méditerranée, is looking for a European port “without delay” to disembark 296 migrants “in a safe harbor”. At sea since May 19, the boat has carried out four rescues off Libya. “We are in the central Mediterranean Sea, so we are turning to the closest competent maritime authorities, therefore Malta and Italy. We have launched eight calls, with no response”is alarmed, Friday May 27 on franceinfo, Sophie Beau, co-founder and general manager of SOS Méditerranée. “We call today for the application of international maritime law, a rescue is only complete when these people are on land, in a safe port”she adds, pointing out that “the mechanism of solidarity with all the European countries is essential to then distribute these survivors.”

Among the 296 migrants on board the NGO ship are 43 women, six of whom are pregnant. “There is also a 2-3 month old baby, a lot of children and unaccompanied minors”, worries the director general of SOS Méditerranée. The situation and the lack of a solution become difficult to manage on the ship. “Some have been on the boat for eight days, that’s a long time. They were on overloaded tires. They are people fleeing Libyan hell, a country where they risk death. We picked them up dehydrated but also in a state of physical and mental fatigueexplains Sophie Beau.

The director general of SOS Méditerranée also fears that this situation will repeat itself in the weeks to come. “We know that departures go up again during the summer”she worries.