2024-07-11 19:32:26
SOS Méditerranée announced that its ship Ocean Viking rescued about 360 irregular migrants in the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday and Wednesday while they were trying to reach Europe.
Irregular migrants’ attempts to reach Europe by sea increase in the summer because navigation conditions are better, but the migration route in the central Mediterranean remains one of the most dangerous navigation routes for migrant boats in the world.
The humanitarian organization said in a statement that Ocean Viking carried out six rescue operations on Tuesday and Wednesday in the waters between the Tunisian, Libyan and Italian coasts.
The statement explained that the ship rescued 120 people on Tuesday, including 53 migrants who sailed from Sfax, Tunisia, and were rescued near the Italian island of Lampedusa “on board a metal boat that was overloaded and taking on water and was about to sink.”
She added that these 53 migrants, including women and children, “were all rescued on board our lifeboats before being transferred to an Italian coast guard boat.”
After completing this mission, the ship headed to a two-story wooden boat carrying 98 people, including six women and three children, and rescued them all, according to the statement.
The ship also rescued 43 other people who were also trying to cross the Mediterranean on a small wooden boat.
In its latest rescue mission, the Ocean Viking crew anchored a fiberglass boat carrying about 50 migrants who were later transferred to an Italian coast guard vessel.
Since 2016, SOS Méditerranée has rescued more than 40,000 people in the Mediterranean, especially in the central sector, which is the most dangerous migration route in the world.
In 2023, 3,155 migrants died or went missing after trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, according to the latest figures from the International Organization for Migration.
Since January, 880 migrants have died or gone missing, according to the same source.
According to figures from the Italian Interior Ministry, the number of arrivals by sea has fallen sharply since the beginning of the year: 27,744 people arrived in Italy between January 1 and July 10, compared to 72,036 migrants during the same period last year.
Last update: July 11, 2024 – 20:48
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2024-07-11 19:32:26