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The Ocean Viking , the new humanitarian ship of SOS Mediterranean and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), rescued 85 migrants off Libya on Friday. At the same time, the American actor Richard Gere came to support those stuck for a week on the Open Arms .
The boat, part of Libya more than 48 hours ago, was spotted Thursday evening by a plane of the European operation Sophia, but the Ocean Viking , just arrived in the rescue zone for its first mission, has had to interrupt his research in the night.
It was only in favor of the day that the big red ship found the small boat, on board which the migrants applauded the approach of the rescuers.
In total, the humanitarian ship gathered 85 people on board, including five women and four children. The youngest is only one year old. Rescuers remained on the alert, looking for another boat party at the same time as the first.
UPDATE 85 pers, including 4 children, rescued from a boat in distress identified this morning by an EU plane. The 2-hour operation was conducted in intl waters 60 minutes from the Libyan coast. The OceanViking remains in the area, ready to help other potential craft in distress pic.twitter.com/d6rMo235T2
SOS MEDITERRANEE France (@SOSMedFrance) August 9, 2019Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who on Thursday broke the populist coalition in Italy, immediately sent a letter to the Government of Norway, whose ship is flying the flag. " Italy is not legally bound or willing to host unidentified illegal immigrants on board the Ocean Viking, " he wrote.
The Italian minister is making the same speech to the 121 migrants stranded aboard the humanitarian ship Open Arms, which is practically out of place off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
On his Twitter account Matteo Salvini wrote about Ocean Viking's sea rescue, " I'm ready to sign the ban on entry into Italian waters " and he adds about the Open Arms : " We wrote the Spanish government to take over the 120 members of the Spanish NGO Open Arms ".
Francese NGO, Ocean Viking con bandier norvegese, carica 80 immigrati in acque libiche.
Sono pronto a firmare il divieto di ingresso nelle acque italiana.
Al governo spagnolo abbiamo invece scritto di farsi carico dei 120 a bordo of Open Arms, spagnola NGO. #portichiusi pic.twitter.com/5RDdkgt4d8
Friday morning, the American actor Richard Gere boarded to meet the crew and migrants, including thirty are minors. " We are here on the ship Open Arms, " said the actor in a video where we see him surrounded by migrants, on a video broadcast by the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms. " I have just arrived from Lampedusa, we brought as much water and food as possible for everyone on board ."
Ser padre no color nor fronts # RichardGere también lo es. ❤️ # PuertoSeguroYa pic.twitter.com/BIK4u9cbOr
Open Arms (@openarms_fund) Aug 9, 2019►Also read: Italy: Salvini's anti-NGO text definitively adopted
The President of the European Parliament, the Italian David Sassoli, sent Thursday August 8 a letter to the European Commission asking him to intervene on behalf of migrants rescued on August 1 and 2 by the Open Arms . " If Europe can not protect those who are struggling in the Mediterranean, who have gone to sea in search of a better life, they will have lost their soul, in addition to their heart, " wrote David Sassoli.
German MEP Erik Marquardt, a new member of the Verts-ALE Group, also denounces the attitude of the European Union.
28 large country governments do not find a solution to divide fewer than 5,000 people who arrive each year? This is the rhythm now. And we can not find a solution to change the Dublin Regulation or find another regulation that allows Italy, Malta and Greece to not be alone in the face of the challenges of immigration. I find it unacceptable that people are allowed to drown in the Mediterranean when it is possible to welcome them and find political solutions to a problem that is not so complicated. It is a sad fact that almost all states refuse to help NGOs when we are facing a humanitarian disaster in the central Mediterranean. The fact that 3,000 people have arrived in Italy this year, or 1,000 in Malta, is not a major global problem. The big problem is that nearly a thousand drowned because they are fleeing war zones in Libya. It is unacceptable and very embarrassing for the European Union that the 28 are unable to find a humanitarian solution to this situation now.
German MEP Erik Marquardt denounces the EU's attitude 09/08/2019 - by Juliette Gheerbrant Listen