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The organization’s ship, Ocean Viking, with 180 migrants, has been at sea for more than a week. The organization said it could no longer guarantee the safety of migrants or their crew, so it took an unprecedented step and declared a state of emergency.
A stranded ship in southern Sicily has been waiting for more than a week for Italy or Malta to dock in a safe harbor and free migrants.
A journalist with the AFP news agency, who visited the ship, reported an increase in tensions over the past week, as immigrants have already given up hope of reaching land. Others are upset that they cannot call their relatives and report that they are safe.
A member of the ship’s crew, named Ludovic, told AFP that he had never seen such violence on board. According to him, there were fights, people tried to commit suicide.
“I don’t feel safe,” he said. “We urgently need to find a port, because it is a security problem.”
A statement issued by SOS Mediterranee states that it is not safe to keep migrants on board after they “have suffered fatal danger on a sunken ship that is unsuitable for sea travel.”
Immigrants on board, Pakistanis from Libya, North Africa, citizens of Eritrea, Nigeria and other countries, were rescued by Ocean Viking in four separate rescue operations from June 25-30. The ship set sail from Marseille on June 22.
There are 25 minors on board, most of whom are not accompanied by adults, as well as two women, one of whom is waiting.
“Ocean Viking has declared a state of emergency after seven requests to enter the relevant maritime services were made last week and six people attempted suicide in 24 hours,” the charity said.
Early Friday morning, one person tried to repeat himself, the group said. Others show “signs of extreme psychological fatigue, depression and extreme agitation, which have already led to serious fights among survivors,” according to SOS Mediterranee.
Two other migrants went on a hunger strike, the organization said.
On Friday afternoon, the organization requested a medical evaluation from 44 Tunisians, Moroccans and Egyptians who showed signs of “acute psychological distress” and who threatened to hurt themselves and harm others. SOS Mediterranee noted that Italy had responded to the request by providing a phone number for the psychologist.
Unanswered
Sometimes all SOS Mediterranee crews have to be on board to reassure people, but now part of the threats are directed against the rescuers themselves. There is an active rumor among immigrants that NGOs have an apparent education with the Italian authorities and that they earn every day that immigrants stay on board.
On Thursday, two migrants jumped from a ship into the Mediterranean but were rescued.
SOS Mediterranee states that it has received a negative response from Italy and Malta to their first landing request, while the other six requests have not been answered at all.
Nicholas Romaniuk, who runs the rescue operation, said there were no “legal and moral” reasons to keep immigrants on board.
“After all, Malta itself has informed us of the location of one of the sunken ships, and now they are not picking up the phone,” he said.
Last year, more than 100,000 people attempted to cross the Mediterranean. people, more than 1,200 of whom died without reaching their destination, according to the International Organization for Migration. Summer time and more favorable conditions are believed to encourage more people to try to cross the sea and reach Europe.
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