The European charity seeks a safe port, including Malta, for 460 rescued immigrants
Thursday, 1 September 2022, 07:47
Last update: about 37 minutes ago
The SOS Mediterranee charity is urgently looking for a port to safely disembark 460 people rescued from the sea in 10 different operations last week who are now packed onto its Ocean Viking rescue ship.
A nurse on board, identified only as Rebecca, said the four-person medical team is overwhelmed with serious issues, including skin infections and chronic illnesses. Six people were evacuated by the Italian Coast Guard, including two pregnant women in their ninth month together with a 3-week-old baby girl.
“There are a large number of medical cases, including exhaustion, dehydration, generalized body pain, untreated infections,” the charity said Wednesday.
The European charity requested safe harbors in Malta and Italy, but has not yet received a response. The migrants were rescued from Thursday to Saturday last week. Laurence Bondard, spokesperson of SOS Mediterranee, stressed that the ship can only be “temporary shelter. It is extremely difficult for the survivors to stay on deck, under stifling heat.”
“All these survivors need to be landed so they can have more health care away from the heat and the sun, which is compromising their health even more,” the nurse identified as Rebecca said in a statement with -video.
Those rescued are mostly from Bangladesh and Egypt, and include 20 women and 80 minors, most of whom are unaccompanied, the charity said.
All but one of their smugglers’ boats left Libya, and the survivors said they spent up to three days at sea before being rescued, Bondard said.