A humanitarian work ship in the Mediterranean launched distress calls last night after it picked up a large number of refugees, confirming the death of one of them, and blaming the European authorities that ignored their repeated calls for this.
The organizers of the "Louise Michel" campaign, which is the name of the ship funded by British street artist Banksy, wrote on Twitter that the ship on Friday picked up 133 migrants who wandered at sea in a leaky inflatable dinghy.
They added that the ship - after a previous rescue operation on Thursday - was carrying 219 people, followed by a crew of only six, and they confirmed the presence of a deceased person on board and others with fuel burns, and they stayed for days at sea while they were left in the European Union for search and rescue.
"We need immediate help," the organizers wrote, stressing that they issued numerous distress calls to the Italian and Maltese authorities without receiving any response.
Another tweet stated that the ship was unable to move and "no longer had its fate" due to its congested deck and lifeguards on its side, "and above all because Europe ignored urgent calls for immediate assistance."
The Italian charity ship Marie Junio said that it left the port of Augusta in Sicily heading to the place of the ship Louise Michel to provide assistance, considering that "helping these people is a matter of life or death." The Italian ship also condemned the reluctance of the Coast Guard in Italy and Malta.
Two United Nations agencies called for the "urgent disembarkation" of the "Louise Michel" passengers and two other ships in the Mediterranean carrying a total of 400 migrants.
The 30-meter-long "Louise Michel" was a French navy ship, and was secretly purchased with proceeds from the sales of artworks to Banksy in order to participate in the rescue of refugees.
Banksy has previously shone the spotlight in his work on refugees and immigration, in 2018 he painted murals in Paris dealing with immigration, and in 2015 he sent supplies from his entertainment city (Desmaland) in western England to an informal refugee camp in Calais, northern France.