Banksy to the rescue of migrants, charters a ship in the Mediterranean

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Street artist Banksy has funded a new ship to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, which is already in the area and has rescued 89 people.

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Named after  19th-century French anarchist "  Louise Michel, " the ship decorated with the British artist's graffiti left on August 18 from the Spanish port of Borriana, near Valencia, revealed on Thursday night in British newspaper The Guardian on Friday .

It was chartered in the greatest secrecy, and on Thursday recovered 89 people, including 14 women and two children, in the central Mediterranean according to the daily, which does not specify the exact position of the boat: "  It is now looking for a safe seaport for disembark passengers or transfer them to a European Coast Guard vessel  '

A twitter account in his name (@MVLouiseMichel) also posted a photo, "  in a very rough sea  ", of an operation to assist Sea-Watch 4 , another humanitarian ship of the NGOs Médecins Sans Frontières and Sea-Watch , present in the area since mid-August.

Yesterday morning, #LouiseMichel responded to a distress call from #Moonbird air reconnaissance plane.
89 people were rescued and brought on board Louise Michel. The survivors need a Place of Safety now. # SolidarityAndResistance pic.twitter.com/HWde3hYFqT

“  GO! [in French in the text] a boat sponsored by Banksy and painted by him, an experienced team from all over Europe, the Louise Michel has already secured two rescue operations from the Sea-Watch4 and has now saved 89 people by him- even. We are delighted with this pink reinforcement!  “, For its part published the NGO Sea-Watch on Twitter.

GO! A ship sponsored and painted by #Banksy, an experienced SAR crew from all over Europe - the @MVLouiseMichel already safeguarded two operations of the # SeaWatch4 and has now rescued 89 people itself. We are excited about the pink reinforcement! pic.twitter.com/99GeZH6JLE

The Sea-Watch 4 has carried out three rescues so far, recovering more than 200 people on board.

The captain still prosecuted for illegal immigration aid

The Guardian has exclusively published several photos of Louise Michel, painted in pink and white, with graffiti clearly from Banksy of a little girl in a life jacket wielding a heart-shaped buoy.

The crew is made up of around ten members, “  European activists with long experience in research and rescue at sea  ”. Its captain is Pia Klemp , a German human rights activist, known to have led several other rescue ships, including the Sea-Watch 3. She is still under investigation by the Italian justice system, for “  Help with illegal immigration  ” in particular.

► To read also : Decoration of the two captains of the Sea-Watch in France: the Italians exasperated

The boat is a former French customs vessel. At 31 meters long, it is smaller in size but considerably faster than the usual NGO ships operating in the area, allowing it to overtake the Libyan coast guard.

The artist would not be on board, assures the Guardian, which adds that the whole operation was mounted between London, Berlin and Borriana. Banksy contacted Pia Klemp in September 2019, explains the British newspaper, according to which the young woman initially believed in a hoax. “  Hello Pia, I read your story in the papers. You look like a badass,  ”he wrote to her in an email, quoted by the newspaper.

“  I'm an artist from UK and I worked on the migrant crisis, obviously I can't keep the money. Could you use it to buy a new boat or something like that? Please let me know  ” read this message, signed“  Banksy  ”.

More than 300 migrants died in the Mediterranean in 2020

This announcement comes as the year 2020 is marked by an upsurge of boats in the central Mediterranean, the deadliest migratory route in the world for candidates for exile to Europe, mainly from Libya and the Neighboring Tunisia.

More than 300 migrants have perished this year attempting the crossing, but the figure could actually be much higher, estimates the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Many small migrant boats, mainly Tunisians, notably docked all summer on the Italian island of Lampedusa, in the south of Sicily.

The last ship to return from the central Mediterranean, the Ocean Viking - chartered by SOS Méditerranée - has been immobilized since early July by the Italian authorities "  for technical reasons  " after disembarking in Sicily with 180 migrants.

► To read also: Migrants: on the Mediterranean, an “untenable” and “deadly” situation

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