Two oenegés ships with 900 migrants await in the central Mediterranean

Two oenegés ships are waiting in a port with almost 900 migrants on board, after having rescued them in the central Mediterranean.

In the last hours, Sea Watch 3, of the eponymous NGO, carried out four rescues, the last of 78 people aboard a rubber boat in difficulty, and currently has 340 migrants on board.

“We spent Christmas aboard the Sea Watch 3 with people in search of safety, who were left alone with their vests fighting against the sea. As European politics gleefully talks about charity, it leaves thousands of people drowning outside its door. The humanitarian catastrophe in the Mediterranean knows no holidays, “said Mattea Weihe, head of mission aboard Sea Watch 3, in a message sent to the media.

Despite the bad weather, barge departures from the African coasts to Europe have not stopped this autumn and winter, and 64,632 migrants have reached the Italian coasts so far this year.

Also waiting for a port is the Geo Barents, from Doctors without Borders, which carries 558 migrants on board after rescues in recent days and where the situation is difficult due to the high number of people.

“We are curing these people for fuel burns, dizziness, respiratory infections, and violence-related injuries. All survivors need immediate and additional care and a safe place as soon as possible, ”explained the obstetrician on board MSF, Kira Smith.

The Ocean Viking, of the NGO SOS Mediterranée, where the aid workers of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) are also located, arrived today at the port of Trapani, in Sicily, after nine days of waiting and was able to disembark the 114 migrants on board, including women, children and two newborns.

While the 216 castaways rescued by the German organization Sea-Eye landed this Friday in the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily. (I)