LA VALLETTA (ITALPRESS/MNA) – 336 migrants, including women and children, were rescued in Maltàs search and rescue area by a civil search and rescue vessel, Geo Barents, operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF Sea).
In a tweet, MSF Sea said that its vessel rescued 336 people, “including many women and children, from an overcrowded wooden boat in distress.”
MSF Sea said that following the alert received from NGO Alarm Phone it took about four hours to complete this rescue operation.
“Everyone is now safely on board the ship and being cared for by our team,” MSF said.
MSF Sea confirmed that the Italian authorities have assigned La Spezia as a place of safety to disembark the 336 survivors. “This is against international law and this is unacceptable. Other suitable ports are significantly closer to our current location. Why not Pozzallo, Palermo or Augusta? This decision also affects the physical and psychological well-being of survivors. After their traumatic experience, this unnecessary waiting causes them even more suffering. Humanity first,” reaffirmed MSF Sea.
The latest complex operation was the second such rescue carried out in Maltàs SAR by the MSF vessel in less than a month, with another 440 asylum seekers rescued by the Geo Barents in early April.
Although the Maltese authorities were alerted about the migrants in distress, no action was taken to rescue the people who were trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

– foto: agenziafotogramma.it
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews