EUROPE-MIGRANTS/MSF MSF calls for more rescue services in the Mediterranean Sea

Record ID: 144888

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/MSF MSF calls for more rescue services in the Mediterranean Sea
  • Date: 6th August 2015
  • Summary: MAGAZINE ON THE TABLE WITH PHOTOGRAPH OF RESCUE SHIP
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA83PBDHFB7ALXRBCXWVAULSE1V
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Doctors without Borders (MSF) urged the European Union on Thursday (August 6) to improve its migration policies and set them as a priority after a new tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea left hundreds of people dead.
    A boat reported to have been packed with up to 700 migrants capsized off the coast of Libya on Wednesday (August 5). Vessels from the Italian and Irish navies and the humanitarian group Medecins sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders (MSF), continued rescue operations on Thursday.
    The Italian Coast Guard said that about 370 people had been rescued and 25 bodies had been recovered.
    No more survivors were found after scouring the waters overnight, Italian officials said.
    But MSF also confirmed 87 people had been rescued on Thursday morning, including 11 women and a child.
    "I think that this last crisis, this last accident, has shown very clearly that the current available capacity is not enough. There have been improvements since the start of May. There are now more ships involved including those from Doctors Without Borders. But unfortunately it is still not enough. In order to safe lives at sea this now needs to be the main priority for those involved," MSF Manager Director in Berlin Florian Westphal told Reuters, adding that the current EU policies were incomplete and had to be changed.
    "In the short term we obviously need to see which ships are available and in which regions in order to carry out these rescues, because unfortunately it looks like it is not enough. And if more ships are needed then more need to be brought in. In the midterm, the EU needs to completely change its policy. It needs to make sure that people who are fleeing their homes have the possibility to make their way to Europe in a safe and legal way in order to find safety and to apply for asylum, and therefore it needs to change its policy, which currently forces these people to risk their lives travelling across the Mediterranean in crowded rubber boats."
    Overloaded boats carrying migrants often capsize due to sudden movements by the desperate passengers when they spot rescuers arriving.
    The Mediterranean Sea has become the world's most deadly border area for migrants. More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have died so far this year in attempts to reach Europe by boat, compared with 3,279 deaths during the whole of last year, the International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday (August 4).
    "At the moment there are more people fleeing their homes than there has ever been before, both within their countries and beyond the borders. The reasons for this are very clear. The war in Syria is devastating and doesn't look like it will come to an end any time soon. Humanitarian crises in South Sudan, in the Central African Republic, Somalia, persecution in Eritrea, problems for many people in Myanmar or Burma ... Unfortunately the list of these crises, which are forcing people to flee, doesn't end," Westphal stated.
    In April, a fishing boat with up to 800 migrants sank, making it the deadliest shipwreck in the Mediterranean for decades and a symbol of Europe's long-running migrant crisis.
    The 20-metre (66-foot) vessel capsized as it approached a merchant ship that had come to its assistance.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Video restrictions: parts of this video may require additional clearances. Please see ‘Business Notes’ for more information.
Register