More than 2,000 migrants rescued in dramatic day in Mediterranean

[rooster59]

More than 2,000 migrants rescued in dramatic day in Mediterranean

 

A rescue swimmer holds onto migrants frantically trying to stay afloat after falling off their rubber dinghy during a rescue operation by the Malta-based NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) ship in the central Mediterranean in international waters some 15 nautical miles off the coast of Zawiya in Libya, April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi

 

ROME (Reuters) - More than 2,000 migrants trying to reach Europe were plucked from the Mediterranean on Friday in a series of dramatic rescues and one person was found dead, officials and witnesses said.

 

An Italian coast guard spokesman said 19 rescue operations by the coast guard or ships operated by non-governmental organisations had saved a total of 2,074 migrants on 16 rubber dinghies and three small wooden boats.

 

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said in a tweet that one teenager was found dead in a rubber boat whose passengers were rescued by its ship Aquarius.

 

"The sea continues to be a graveyard," MSF said in a Tweet.

 

The coast guard spokesman confirmed that one person had died but gave no details.

 

MSF said two of their ships, Aquarius and Prudence, had rescued about 1,000 people in nine boats.

 

Desperate refugees struggled to stay afloat after they slid off their rubber boat during a rescue operation by the Phoenix, a ship of the rescue group Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

 

Video footage showed rescuers jumping into the water off the coast of Libya to help them.

 

"In 19 years of covering the migration story, I have never experienced anything like today," said Reuters photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi, who was aboard the Phoenix.

 

In one operation, the Phoenix rescued 134 people, all from sub-Saharan counties, he said.

 

Those rescued by the MOAS and MSF ships were transferred to Italian coast guard ships, which had rescued other migrants, to be taken to Italian ports.

 

According to the International Organisation for Migration, nearly 32,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year. More than 650 have died or are missing.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-15

[Hayduke]

No surprise. People know there are naval assets in place to ensure they arrive safely in Europe. This encourages risk-taking.

If they were rescued and returned to their point of origin there would be much less of an incentive to take dangerous chances.

It people are rewarded for doing something…well…they’ll continue doing it.

[just.a.thought]

Sail them back to the country where the boarded....they are economic migrants and are paying 10 times the price of a ordinary plane ticket to smugglers. If they have a right to refugee status in Europe let them apply at airports only. Illegal entry into any country should automatically result in immediate deportation.


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[Kerryd]

Apparently it has become a common tactic for refugees to sink their own boats as soon as they see a Coast Guard/Navy ship, thereby forcing that ship to rescue them. Sometimes they are lucky. Many times they are not.

Over 700 died in one incident when they crashed their boat into a merchant ship. In another case, a rubber boat was crashed into the side of a fishing trawler the "refugees' mistook for an Italian navy ship. Most of the refugees can't swim and few have lifejackets.

 

No doubt there are many more incidents that we don't even hear about.

"According to The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) 4,655 people have either died or are missing having attempted to cross the Mediterranean in 2016."

 

[ballzafire]

An ongoing, slow-motion, 'Trojan Horse invasion', largely financed by the globalists. Western civilization is doomed if this keeps up...

[baboon]

I don't really know the best solution, but this should not be allowed to go on. Turn up at (insert port of your choice) with a passport but without the correct paperwork and straight back you go. End of. No discussion. Turn up with nothing and that's fine. It makes a mockery of the entire system - 'Why does the law apply to me and not him?'

[ilostmypassword]

2 minutes ago, ballzafire said:

An ongoing, slow-motion, 'Trojan Horse invasion', largely financed by the globalists. Western civilization is doomed if this keeps up...

You mean Jared Kusher is issuing free tickets?

Edited April 15, 2017 by ilostmypassword

[TumblinDice]

The world needs more YMCA's. Thats where my mother took me to learn to swim. I was a "water baby".
How is it so many people living around water can't learn to swim? I understand many of these refugees come from deep within the desert & are desperate but use some common sense & invest in a lifejacket along with your "one way ticket"!


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[jamie2009]

The Western Countires created the situation by encouraging the removal of Gadaffi and Hussain and encouraging Tunisia to do the same so should the same countries be responsible for taking the refugees ?

The non intervention in Syria, too late now has made the situation even worse.

More effort should have be made in the countries where the refugees come from to try Rehabilitate them there but unfortunately the refugees have heard all the stories of how good life is elsewhere.

There isn't a solution, some will say send them back but the political correct will say let them all in, it's a 'no win' situation.

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, baboon said:

I don't really know the best solution, but this should not be allowed to go on. Turn up at (insert port of your choice) with a passport but without the correct paperwork and straight back you go. End of. No discussion. Turn up with nothing and that's fine. It makes a mockery of the entire system - 'Why does the law apply to me and not him?'

 

Exactly. They know very well that the pc liberal controlled West will not allow them to drown. And they know that once rescued without any passport or papers they can't be returned anywhere. So they pay the money, take the risk and play the game.

 

And people like Merkel think we should look after them. While that continues to be the tone of "leaders" then more will come.

[baboon]

7 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Exactly. They know very well that the pc liberal controlled West will not allow them to drown. And they know that once rescued without any passport or papers they can't be returned anywhere. So they pay the money, take the risk and play the game.

 

And people like Merkel think we should look after them. While that continues to be the tone of "leaders" then more will come.

And who can blame them? They would be mad not to give it a whirl, knowing at the very worst they can simply vanish into the big cities.

[khunken]

2 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Exactly. They know very well that the pc liberal controlled West will not allow them to drown. And they know that once rescued without any passport or papers they can't be returned anywhere. So they pay the money, take the risk and play the game.

 

And people like Merkel think we should look after them. While that continues to be the tone of "leaders" then more will come.

It doesn't take the 'pc liberal controlled west' (whatever that warped meaning is) to rescue people at risk of drowning. Just normal people like lifeguards & others in rescue boats.

 

This is nothing to do with your pet peeve - Merkel - but the NATO destruction of Libya as a viable country. Yes many are economic migrants but stopping them at source of departure means giving Libya the means or assistance to be able to do it.