AN NGO refugee rescue ship in the central Mediterranean waited hours today for help from the Maltese and Italian coastguards that never came after the vessel saved the lives of 148 people, 28 more than it is legally allowed to carry.
Basque charity Humanitarian Maritime Rescue (SMH) announced in the morning that the Aita Mari had located 102 people including a seven-month-old baby and two pregnant women in a wooden boat within Malta s search-and-rescue zone (SAR).
“The rescue ship will now wait for the European authorities to assign, as required by law, the closest safe port,” SMH said after the first rescue.
“Because of our location (34°58.02’N, 12°29.154’E), this should be [Malta’s responsibility], but the island has always refused to allow landings.”
NGO refugee rescue ship left waiting on European help that never came
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The truth about refugees in the central Mediterranean
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LAST weekend saw an eventful couple of days in the Mediterranean waters off Malta’s southern coast.
Over 140 people in two overcrowded rubber boats were saved by a coalition of civilian refugee rescue organisations within the island nation’s search-and-rescue (SAR) zone.
I initially set out to write up a short report on the weekend’s rescues. But after speaking on Sunday with Eike, an activist who witnessed the events from the skies, I realised that the situation was much more complicated.
In this, part one of two articles examining last weekend’s events, Eike tells us what happened on Friday. We’ll look at Saturday in part two.