Rome [Italy], April 6: The Geo Barents sea rescue vessel operated by Doctors Without Bordershas taken 440 migrants aboard after rescuing them from small boats in the Mediterranean, the organization said on Wednesday. The complicated 11-hour operation already began on Tuesday, with the last migrants brought aboard the ship in the early hours of Wednesday, MSFTweeted. Thirty children and eight women are among the rescued. Immediately after the rescue operation, an unconscious person was taken by helicopter to Malta due to severe dehydration, the organization said.
Italian authorities assigned the Geo Barents the southern Italian port of Brindisi. The crew was also told that about 100 people would be transferred to an Italian navy vessel ahead of arrival in Brindisi. According to the Italian government figures, more than 28,000 boat migrants have attempted the dangerous passage across the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year, four times the 6,832 recorded in the same period last year.
Most of the migrants reach the coast of Italy in small boats or are picked up by police or the coast guard. Vessels operated by civilian rescue organizations mainly search the coast off Libya and Tunisia to take on migrants from unfit vessels. Italy's right-wing government accuses the organizations of disregarding international restrictions.
Under a new decree passed in February, civilian groups that rescue refugees from the sea are obliged to immediately head for an assigned port after an operation. The organizations say the new rules put lives in danger by preventing them from taking more people aboard.
Source: Qatar Tribune