Libyan coastguard and NGO involved in migrant rescue operation
The Libyan coastguard has reported rescuing 125 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
According to the Libya Observer, the coastguard carried out a joint operation with a European non-governmental organisation (NGO) on 31 March to rescue migrants off the coast of the city of Zuwara.
The NGO in question was Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), who reported that the rubber boat was first identified by a European military aircraft.
The Italian Rescue Maritime Coordination Centre (IMRCC) alerted the NGO rescue vessel, the Aquarius, of the rubber boat in distress with an estimated 120 people on board in international waters, about 44 kilometres off the Libyan coast.
The Aquarius was ordered to stand by, as the Libyan coastguard would be in charge of the rescue operation; however, MSF reported that the Aquarius staff witnessed “deterioration in the situation, with the overcrowded rubber boat taking on water.”
As a result Aquarius crew started the rescue operation until the Libyan coastguard arrived and continued the rescue.
MSF and SOS Méditerranée, the two NGOs that jointly operate the ship Aquarius, were able to negotiate with the Italians and the Libyans to allow their rescue crew to stabilise the situation by giving out lifejackets to all people on board, and to assess their medical conditions.
After negotiating with the IMRCC and the Libyan coastguard, MSF was allowed to evacuate 39 of the most vulnerable cases on the overcrowded rubber boat, including a new born baby, pregnant women, children and their families.
After the Aquarius was ordered to move away from the scene by the Libyan coastguard, at least 80 people still on the rubber boat were taken back to Libya.
According to a source in the Libyan coastguard, the other migrants were transferred to the Abu-Sitta Navy base in Tripoli.
They were registered and provided with some health and logistical assistance before being transferred to the Tajoura shelter of the Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency.
TMP – 24/04/2018
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