Charity ships rescue nearly 450 migrants in Mediterranean

Published August 2, 2021
A MIGRANT cries for help after jumping off an overcrowded wooden boat and trying to swim towards a ship off the 
coast of Tunisia.—Reuters
A MIGRANT cries for help after jumping off an overcrowded wooden boat and trying to swim towards a ship off the coast of Tunisia.—Reuters

ROME: Charity ships rescued nearly 450 migrants from a wooden boat that was taking on water in the Mediterranean Sea, aid groups said on Sunday, while dozens of mostly Tunisian migrants reached the Italian island of Sardinia unaided.

The French humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee tweeted on Sunday that its rescue vessel Ocean Viking, along with Sea-Watch 3, a ship operated by a German charity, and well as another German humanitarian boat Resqship, had worked together in a five-hour long rescue attempt.

The charity groups said they were awaiting permission to dock at some southern European port to disembark their passengers.

Separately, dozens of migrants, most of them from Tunisia, reached the southern shores of Sardinia, an Italian island, over the weekend, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Italian media also said a sailboat carrying 13 migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran was spotted by Italian coast guard and customs vessels near Italy’s southeastern tip of Puglia on Saturday. Those passengers were taken safely ashore.

On the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, the arrival of multiple smuggling boats filled with migrants, many of which reached shore in the last few days, has swollen the number of people housed in Lampedusa’s migrant processing center to hundreds beyond its capacity. One migrant gave birth shortly after reaching the island, Italian media said.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd , 2021

Opinion

Editorial

Kurram atrocity
Updated 22 Nov, 2024

Kurram atrocity

It would be a monumental mistake for the state to continue ignoring the violence in Kurram.
Persistent grip
22 Nov, 2024

Persistent grip

PAKISTAN has now registered 50 polio cases this year. We all saw it coming and yet there was nothing we could do to...
Green transport
22 Nov, 2024

Green transport

THE government has taken a commendable step by announcing a New Energy Vehicle policy aiming to ensure that by 2030,...
Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...