The ship Open Arms, from the Spanish NGO of the same name, denounced this Wednesday having received threats from Libyan militias after witnessing an attack on a ship. At that time, the NGO came to rescue 100 people in danger on board two boats that were trying to cross the Mediterranean.
“When our tugboat was about to arrive, we saw a Libyan militia ship in the area.. They had set fire to a boat and threatened us to leave the area,” the NGO has indicated on its social networks.. “We have only been able to see the smoke in the air and see once again what is the real interest of the Libyan militias financed by the European Union: to prevent the boats in danger from being rescued, to intimidate the people and push Libya back”, has denounced
Hours earlier, the Open Arms rescued 24 people who were traveling in a precarious boat, while warning that there are at least more than 100 in danger in two other boats.
The NGO has also denounced that the Italian authorities have assigned them the port of Civitavecchia, near Rome in central Italy, as a landing point, “more than three days of navigation.” “Can you be more cynical and inhumane?” He criticized in his writing.
The Open Arms, which is completing its 102nd mission in the Mediterranean, disembarked on July 26 in the port of Salerno (southern Italy) 72 migrants rescued in two operations on its last mission, just a few days after disembarking others 299 people in Brindisi.
In addition, this Tuesday the sailboat of the Spanish NGO, Astral, which can help boats in danger but not rescue their occupants, helped the 40 migrants who were traveling in a boat without a motor until they were rescued by the Italian authorities, which the organization had alerted to the situation.
He also revealed that last night he “tried to reach” another vessel in distress with some 170 people on board and in the meantime alerted “all the competent authorities and some merchant ships in the vicinity to intervene immediately.”
According to the latest data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, so far this year and as of August 2, 89,427 migrants have disembarked on the Italian coasts, compared to 42,198 in the same period of the previous year.