Rescue on the oil platform: 32 migrants in mortal danger!

Rescue on the oil platform: 32 migrants in mortal danger!

Miskar, Tunesien - The crew of the “Aurora” rescue ship of the German NGO Sea Watch saved 32 migrants from a dramatic situation on Tuesday. These had been on the Miskar oil platform for four days before their inflatable boat had dropped. The group, which had broken out of Libya and suffered from the conditions of cold, hunger and thirst, consisted of women and children. Tragically, there was a death among the migrants, according to the aid organization, which indicates that people urgently needed help, since no one else caused their rescue. According to Sea Watch, the platform was in international waters, where so far no government had taken measures to free migrants, despite repeated calls for help, including the alarm Phone and the NGO itself.

The "Aurora" started from the Italian island of Lampedusa to relieve the emergency of the migrants. The authorities in Malta and Italy had not reacted to the calls for help, which led to a parliamentary request from the Italian EU MP Sandro Ruotolo. He called for explanations for the failure of the competent authorities from the European Commission that would not have been fulfilled by their obligation from international law and the European regulatory framework for the rescue of people in distress. Sea Watch sharply criticized the fact that she again took responsibility for the rescue while the institutions turned away. "It is an inhuman and deeply racist policy," said spokeswoman Giorgia Linardi in a press release. The aid organization had already used a reconnaissance plane that the migrants had discovered on the platform while the situation on site was increasingly dangerous.

The desperate migrants had previously explained in a conversation with the Alarm Phone that they had fled to the platform after the engine of their rubber boat failed because they had to go overboard. The people who were on the platform had hoped that the Tunisian Navy would help them, but this never arrived. Instead, Sea Watch is now in the queue to get a safe port from the Italian state. This serious situation again makes it clear how lack of political decisions endanger human lives. In the meantime, the NGO hopes for faster decisions and an immediate intervention by European authorities to prevent further, potentially fatal developments.

OE24 reported that the migrants were exposed to the elements on the platform, and il Post added that the EU and the affected states escape its responsibility.