"Ocean Viking", the SOS Méditerranée ship, rescued 424 migrants in the Mediterranean

The humanitarian ship "Ocean Viking", in July 2020. © Giovanni ISOLINO / AFP

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In the Mediterranean, the "Ocean Viking" rescued 424 migrants from Thursday to Friday off the coast of Libya.

This is the second rescue campaign since the ship returned to sea on January 11 after spending 5 months stranded in Italy for work.

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More than 180 people trying to reach Europe aboard two " 

boats in distress

 " were rescued Friday off Libya by the crew of the

Ocean Viking

, a rescue vessel at sea, announced its charterer. NGO SOS Mediterranean.

Shortly thereafter, the team spotted a second "

extremely unstable and overloaded 

"

boat 

.

About 116 men, women and children have been taken to safety, adds SOS Méditerranée.

More than 400 survivors are now on board the Ocean Viking.

237 migrants were rescued Thursday during two rescues.

Intense days for lifeguards

On board, Jérémie, a rescuer, said he was “

 relieved 

” to have been able to save all the people in distress: “

 After these two intense days of rescue in international waters, we had 424 people on board.

[...]

For the great majority, they are people who flee Libya where they suffered from abominable violence, arbitrary detentions and forced labor. 

"

Testimony of Jérémie (sailor-rescuer) on board the SOS Méditerranée boat

Lea Pernelle

The

Ocean Viking

returned to sea in mid-January from Marseille after spending five months stranded in Italy where the authorities imposed work on it.

It is currently the only NGO relief ship in the region.

The candidates for exile from various countries mainly leave Tunisia and Libya to reach Europe

via

Italy, whose coasts are the closest.

In total, more than 1,200 migrants perished in 2020 in the Mediterranean, the vast majority of them on this central route, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

NGO ships, such as the

Ocean Viking

, save lives but have also been accused for several years of playing the game of smugglers.

The European Union has been divided on how to handle the problem since the illegal migrant crisis started in 2015, when more than a million of them arrived on European shores.

►Also read: Frontex, the EU's border surveillance agency, in turmoil

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