Seit zwei Tagen irrt das Rettungsschiff Bourbon Argos der Hilfsorganisation Ärzte ohne Grenzen mit knapp 700 Flüchtlingen an Bord vor der sizillianischen Küste. Die italienischen Behörden verweigern das Anlegen, weil die Aufnahmekapazitäten an Land erschöpft seien. An Bord befinden sich kranke Kinder und Frauen. Die Flüchtlinge befürchten, dass sie nach Libyen zurückgebracht werden könnten. Ärzte ohne Grenzen protestiert auch deswegen, weil ihr Schiff dadurch von weiteren Rettungseinsätzen abgehalten wird.
Quelle: MSF
Migration: Bourbon Argos not authorised to land 700 rescued migrants in Sicily
Julie Remy/MSF, The Bourbon Argos, MSF second search and rescue vessel, launched in May 2015.
Rome – Médecins Sans Frontières‘ (MSF) search and rescue vessel Bourbon Argos is currently navigating the northern coast of Sicily with about 700 people on board, towards the port of Reggio Calabria, where it should land Saturday early morning. Despite lengthy discussions with Italian authorities and efforts by the Italian Coastguards, the Bourbon Argos was not authorised to disembark the 700 migrants in Sicily due to lack of capacity of the reception system.
On Wednesday 15 July the Bourbon Argos rescued 678 people from six different boats and received one more patient transferred for medical reasons from an Italian Coastguards vessel. Among the migrants rescued were people from Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Somalia.
“The MSF team has worked round the clock and has provided care to those needing medical attention. The vessel is completely overcrowded and the migrants are staying on the deck in a very limited space,” says Alexander Buchman, MSF coordinator on the Bourbon Argos. “For the last 24 hours this has caused tensions between the people and posed serious security concerns aboard the vessel.”
Despite good coordination with the Italian Coastguards and all the efforts done by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Italian authorities did not authorise the Bourbon Argos to disembark in any of the Sicilian ports due to lack of capacity of the reception system. On Thursday evening, MSF was finally given permission to disembark 150 migrants out of the 700 in the port of Trapani, on the Western coast of Sicily. However, MSF decided not to proceed with a partial disembarkation as in such an overcrowded environment it could pose serious security risks. Many of the people on board expressed their fear of being “brought back to Libya” and the situation on board was already extremely tense.
Only seven patients who needed urgent medical attention were disembarked, together with their family relatives. Two cases were particularly serious: an adult female, transferred from the Italian coastguard vessel, suffered from hypertension and hypovolemia with abdominal pain, and needed urgent medical hospitalization; and a 12-month child with pneumonia, fever and dyspnea, to whom MSF provided antibiotic treatment, needed urgent hospitalisation for further diagnosis and treatment.
“For two days, we have been trying to understand where we would be allowed to land, coordinating and working round the clock with the Italian Coastguards, while having to maintain an acceptable level of security on board,” adds Buchman. “This caused serious security risks aboard the vessel and forced 700 people in distress to spend two entire nights on the deck in very difficult conditions.”
On Friday morning, after lengthy negotiations, the Bourbon Argos was directed to the port of Messina, Eastern Sicily. This decision was eventually changed a few hours later and the final destination is now Reggio Calabria. The Bourbon Argos is currently navigating the northern coast of Sicily – so as to keep the Italian shores in sight and not feed fears among the migrants on board – and is due to arrive to Reggio Calabria on Saturday morning early.
“The lack of preparedness of the Italian reception system is having very concrete consequences that we are seeing first hand,” adds Loris De Filippi, President of MSF Italy. “We are in July, and the arrivals are not likely to stop anytime soon, so this problem has to be addressed now. Concretely, the Ministry of Interior has to allow disembarkation in the closest Sicilian ports in order to allow vessels to return as quickly as possible to the search and rescue zone to carry out further rescues.”
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Quelle: ReliefWeb
Rescue boat with hundreds of migrants stopped from landing in Sicily: charity
Italian authorities prevented a rescue boat with some 700 migrants aboard from landing in Sicily because there was no room for the people in reception centres, a humanitarian group said Friday. Despite lengthy discussions with Italian authorities the migrants on a boat operated by medical charity Doctors Without Borders, were turned away due to a „lack of capacity in the Italian (migrant) reception system,“ said a statement from the group. The boat is now heading for the port of Reggio Calabria on the far southern tip of Italy with hopes to land on early Saturday. Italy is struggling to host more than 80,000 migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean fleeing war, persecution or poverty in the Middle East and Africa. Italian authorities gave permission Thursday for some of the migrants on the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) boat to disembark at the Sicilian town of Trapani, but the charity rejected that idea due to tensions aboard the overcrowded vessel. In the end just seven people — all in need of urgent medical attention — and their families were let off the boat. The president of MSF’s Italian operation, Loris De Filippi, said the „lack of preparation in the Italian system has very concrete consequences that we witness first hand.“ „The ministry of interior must authorise boats to disembark at the port in Sicily that is closest to them in order to allow them to return to the search and rescue zone as soon as possible in order save other boats,“ he added.
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Migranti, la nave di MSF non autorizzata a sbarcare 700 persone in Sicilia per incapacità di accoglienza
Respinta da tutti i porti siciliani la Bourbon Argos che ora sta navigando a Nord della costa siciliana, in direzione Reggio Calabria, con gente proveniente da Bangladesh, Costa d’Avorio, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Libia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal e Somalia
ROMA – Mercoledì scorso, durante sei diverse operazioni di salvataggio, la nave di Medici Senza Frontiere (MSF) ha tratto in salvo 678 persone. A bordo, gente proveniente da Bangladesh, Costa d’Avorio, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Libia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal e Somalia, tra le principali nazionalità. „L’équipe di MSF – ha detto Alexander Buchmann, coordinatore per MSF della Bourbon Argos – è stata impegnata 24 ore al giorno per fornire assistenza a chi aveva bisogno di cure mediche. La nave è sovraffollata e le persone a bordo sono sistemate sul ponte in uno spazio molto limitato. Nelle ultime 24 ore – ha aggiunto – questa situazione ha provocato tensioni tra la persone e potrebbe causare gravi problemi di sicurezza a bordo della nave“.
La paura di essere riportati in Libia.
Nonostante la buona coordinazione tra la guardia costiera italiana e gli sforzi del Centro di Ricerca e soccorso marittimo (MRCC), le autorità italiane non hanno autorizzato lo sbarco delle persone a bordo della Bourbon Argos in nessuno porto siciliano a causa dell’incapacità del sistema d’accoglienza. Giovedì sera, le autorità italiane hanno autorizzato lo sbarco di 150 persone su 700 nel porto di Trapani. Tuttavia, MSF ha deciso di non procedere con uno sbarco parziale perché una simile operazione, in una situazione di tale sovraffollamento, avrebbe posto seri rischi per la sicurezza. La situazione a bordo era molto tesa e molte delle persone hanno espresso la loro preoccupazione e paura di essere „riportati in Libia“.
A terra solo i casi più urgenti.
Soltanto 7 pazienti che necessitavano di urgenti cure mediche sono stati sbarcati insieme alle loro famiglie. Tra i casi più seri: una donna adulta, trasferita dalla nave della guardia costiera italiana, soffriva di ipotensione e forti dolori addominali, e aveva bisogno di un ricovero urgente; e un bambino di 12 mesi con polmonite, febbre e difficoltà respiratorie a cui MSF ha fornito un trattamento antibiotico, ma che necessitava di un ricovero urgente per ulteriori accertamenti e cure. „Per due giorni – aggiunge Alexander Buchmann – abbiamo cercato di capire dove ci sarebbe stato permesso di sbarcare, attraverso un coordinamento continuo con la Guardia Costiera italiana, cercando di mantenere un livello accettabile di sicurezza a bordo. Questo – ha detto ancora – ha causato gravi rischi per la sicurezza a bordo della nave, obbligando 700 persone in difficoltà a trascorrere due notti intere sul ponte della nave in condizioni molto difficili“.
Stamattina diretti a Messina.
Dopo lunghe trattative, stamane la Bourbon Argos è stata diretta a Messina. Tale decisione è stata poi modificata alcune ore dopo e la destinazione finale è ora Reggio Calabria. La nave sta navigando lungo la costa settentrionale della Sicilia – in modo da mantenere un contatto visivo con la terraferma e non alimentare paure tra i migranti a bordo. L’arrivo è previsto sabato mattina presto. „La mancanza di preparazione del sistema di accoglienza italiano sta avendo conseguenze molto concrete che stiamo sperimentando in prima persona – dice Loris de Filippi, presidente di MSF Italia – basta un minimo problema logistico che il sistema collassa. Siamo ancora a luglio e gli arrivi non si fermeranno molto presto. Il Ministero dell’Interno dovrebbe autorizzare lo sbarco nei porti siciliani più vicini per facilitare le operazioni di sbarco e permettere alle navi di tornare il prima possibile nella zona di ricerca e soccorso“.