Merchant ships and illegal pushbacks: forgotten stories from the Mediterranean
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Since Covid-19 began spreading around the world, images of shipwrecks have largely vanished from our screens. Yet the refugee crisis is still ongoing. Day after day, crews of commercial vessels along Europe s southern frontiers, encounter people trying to reach asylum whatever the risk. Valeria Alice Colombo has witnessed the political and humanitarian consequences of these encounters first-hand.
After so many months of shipwrecks, pandemics and stories of unjustified sequestering, it is a relief to finally see the fleet of NGO ships back in the sea north of Libya. This is a stretch of land and water in which tragedies take place - virtually unheard of - every day. It s therefore even more heartening to see that there s a new ship in place. It s run by a group that Pia Klemp, ex-captain of the well-known Iuventa mission, put together. The team is also supported by an iconic, politically co