Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) stops its mission to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean aboard the "Ocean Viking". The association has failed to reach an agreement with SOS Méditerranée, which charters it, on the possibility of operating despite the Covid-19 epidemic. MSF hopes to continue rescues on another ship.
MSF has ended the partnership which has linked the two associations for four years and which has saved 30,000 people in the Mediterranean. However, she recalled the seriousness of the situation of those who continue to flee Libya: in the midst of the new coronavirus crisis, Malta and Italy have officially closed their ports to migrants. In this context, SOS Mediterranean considered for its part that "the security conditions were unfortunately no longer met for the crews and those rescued," Sophie Beau, its director general, told AFP.
A takeover "as soon as possible" for SOS Mediterranean
Going back to sea meant taking the risk of finding yourself "faced with deadlock situations that drag on at sea", "without any guaranteed landing", and "medical evacuations made very hazardous by the crisis conditions sanitary ”.
Until further notice, the Ocean Viking will remain in Marseille, its home port. "We could not take the responsibility of going back to sea when all the indicators are red," continued Sophie Beau. SOS Méditerranée, which originally worked with Médecins du Monde, however hopes to resume operations as soon as possible, without MSF, to avoid "the humanitarian crisis hiding another", humanitarian, in the Mediterranean.
In the name of "the humanitarian imperative"
MSF, for its part, would have liked to continue rescues on board the Ocean Viking, even without any guarantee from European states to be able to disembark the rescued people, in the name of "the humanitarian imperative", explained Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, in charge of humanitarian issues. The NGO could hardly continue to mobilize a medical team if the rescue boat remained docked in France, she added.
MSF, determined to continue its action in the Mediterranean, directly questions the responsibility of European states, which "continue to shirk their responsibility, tirelessly thwarting the efforts of NGOs". "The fight against Covid-19 should not be a pretext for imposing deadly migration policies," added the NGO, which calls for lifting "immediately the restrictions preventing NGOs from saving lives at sea".
She accuses Malta and Italy of not having answered several distress calls and refused "disembarking to nearly 200 people" by other NGOs during the Easter weekend.
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