Migrants: Banksy charters a ship in the Médterrannée

It is recognizable, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, by its colors - pink and white -, but above all by the graffiti clearly signed by Banksy representing a little girl in a life jacket brandishing a heart-shaped buoy. Baptized by the name of "Louise Michel" - famous French anarchist of the XIXth century -, the ship financed by the street artist left on August 18 from the Spanish port of Borriana, near Valence, and recovered Thursday, 89 people, including fourteen women and two children, in the Mediterranean.

This rescue operation was revealed on the night of Thursday August 27 by the British newspaper The Guardian, which does not specify the exact position of the boat. "He is now looking for a safe seaport to disembark passengers or transfer them to a European coastguard ship," we read.

During the last week MV #LouiseMichel took part in several SAR operations. Already on the first day in the SAR zone, a tiny boat with 7 people was found by the crew on watch. Two survivors suffered severe dehydration and were treated by our medical team.

The artist would not be on board, assures the Guardian, which adds that the whole operation was mounted between London, Berlin and Borriana. 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.

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

"An experienced team from all over Europe"

"GO! 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-Watch 4' and has now rescued 89 people by himself. We are delighted with this pink reinforcement! ", for its part published the NGO Sea-Watch on twitter.

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

"European activists with long experience"

The crew is made up of 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 operated several other rescue ships, including the "Sea-Watch 3". It is still the subject of an investigation by the Italian justice, for "help with illegal immigration" in particular.

Banksy contacted Pia Klemp in September 2019, explains the Guardian, according to which the young woman initially believed in a hoax. "Hello Pia, I read your story in the newspapers. You look like a badass," he wrote to her in an email, quoted by the newspaper.

“I'm an artist from the 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? please let me know, "said this message, signed" Banksy ".

"Rescue at sea, an anti-fascist fight"

Pia Klemp believes that Banksy solicited her for her political commitment: "I do not see the rescue at sea as a humanitarian action, but as part of an anti-fascist fight," she told the Guardian.

The ten sailors of the "Louise Michel" all call themselves "anti-racist and anti-fascist activists in favor of radical political changes," said the Guardian.

According to Lea Reisner, nurse in charge of the relief operations, the project is "primarily anarchist, since it intends to defend the convergence of struggles for social justice, including the rights of women and LGBTIQ, racial equality, the rights of migrants, the defense of the environment and the rights of animals ".

And "since it is a feminist project, only female crew members are allowed to speak on behalf of 'Louise Michel'," said the Guardian. For Claire Faggianelli, another participant in the project, it is about "awakening European consciousness".

300 migrants died at sea 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 having disembarked in Sicily with 180 migrants.

With AFP

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