All migrants moved off stranded Banksy rescue boat
All of the migrants up to speed a rescue ship funded by British street artist Banksy have been used in other vessels, the team behind the mission said after their pink-and-white ship carrying more than 200 passengers sent an urgent demand help.
An Italian patrol vessel rushed to the stranded MV Louise Michel in the Mediterranean and took in 49 of the very most vulnerable persons on Saturday, the coastguard said.
The remaining migrants up to speed, around 150 people, were received by a vessel chartered by German NGO Sea Watch and medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), according to tweets from both organisations and the Louise Michel’s crew.
“For those lately embarked, medical assessment is ongoing, with the clinic full & #MSF medics treating persons for fuel burns, dehydration, hypothermia & traumatic injuries,” the MSF Sea Twitter account said of the problem up to speed the Sea-Watch 4.
The German-flagged Louise Michel had said it needed aid after helping a boat carrying at least one dead migrant in the sea that divides Africa and Europe.
Its crew said the 31-metre (101-foot) ship had become overcrowded and struggling to move, warning that some of the migrants had fuel burns and had been at sea for days.
“Given the threat of the situation, the coastguard sent a patrol boat to Lampedusa which took in 49 people deemed the most fragile, including 32 women, 13 children and four men,” said a coastguard statement.
The rescued migrants later said three persons had died at sea prior to the arrival of the Louise Michel.
Banksy, who keeps his identity a secret, explained in an online video that he previously bought the boat to greatly help migrants “because EU authorities deliberately ignore distress calls from non-Europeans”.
- ‘Lack of reaction’ -
Sea-Watch 4, which has a clinic on board and is itself searching for a host port, said it was now carrying 350 persons after sailing for four hours to greatly help the Louise Michel. Its crew made a decision to take action “when confronted with having less reaction” from the authorities, a Sea Watch spokesman told AFP.
The Louise Michel vessel’s crew of 10 had already rescued 89 people from a rubber boat in distress on Thursday.
They had tweeted that there have been a total 219 persons on board and they had requested the help of both the Italian and Maltese authorities.
The boat - a former French customs vessel named after 19th-century French anarchist Louise Michel - was around 90 kilometres (55 miles) southeast of Lampedusa on Saturday, according to the global ship tracking website Marine Traffic.
It includes a Banksy artwork depicting a girl in a life vest holding a heart-shaped safety buoy.
Its crew is “made up of European activists with long experience browsing and rescue operations” and is captained by German human rights activist Pia Klemp, who in addition has captained other such rescue vessels, The Guardian newspaper reported.
Thousands of people are thought to have died making the dangerous trip over the Mediterranean to flee conflict, repression and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
In line with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, attempts by migrant boats to cross the Mediterranean into Europe have increased this season, up 91 percent from January to July over last year’s figures, to 14,481 people.
- ‘Anti-fascist fight’ -
Banksy’s involvement in the rescue mission dates back to September 2019 when he sent Klemp a contact asking how he could contribute.
Klemp, who in the beginning thought it was a joke, told the paper she believed she was chosen as a result of her political stance, The Guardian said.
“I don’t see sea rescue as a humanitarian action, but as part of an anti-fascist fight,” she told the paper.
This month, humanitarian organisations said they would resume migrant rescues in the MEDITERRANEAN AND BEYOND, where none have operated because the rescue ship Ocean Viking docked in Italy in early July.
Prior to the Ocean Viking’s last mission, rescue functions in the Mediterranean have been suspended for months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile in the French port city of Marseille, 30 protesters called on Italian authorities release a the Ocean Viking, that was detained by the Italian coastguard over technical irregularities.
