Cameroonian miraculously saved at sea off Libya

Rescuers from the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms have found a woman still alive and two bodies on the remains of a rubber dinghy on Tuesday 17 July off the coast of Libya, and have accused the Coast Guard Libyans, who denied that they had abandoned them to their fate at sea. The boat was completely deflated and only a few boards were still floating about 80 miles north-east of Tripoli.

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The Spanish rescuers, returning to the area after weeks of absence, had visited the scene after hearing on Monday evening radio exchanges between a Panamanian cargo ship and the patrol boat Ras Jédir Libyan coastline about a canoe in distress. The Spanish NGO accuses the Libyans of having recovered the migrants who were on board but of having abandoned the two women and the child.

Single survivor

Questioned by AFP, the coastguards have denied that the two rescue operations they carried out on Monday concerned other boats. On one of them, 158 people were recovered 16 miles off Khoms, relatively far from the area where the raft was spotted. A second was rescued by the star Ras Jedir on the night of Monday to Tuesday 76 miles north of Garaboulli, very close to where the raft was found.

There were 165 migrants on this second boat, including 34 women and 12 children, who had been drifting since Saturday, more than 60 hours without water or food, said the coastguards, adding that they had recovered the lifeless body of an elderly girl. of a month.

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In a statement, the coastguard, however, recalled their lack of resources, particularly for surveillance and night-time rescue. In general, they do not bring back the bodies of migrants found dead at sea. Having rarely the means to recover people with water, they explain to concentrate their efforts on the living, and are also faced with the refusal of the authorities of Tripoli to to take the corpses in charge at the arrival to the port, for lack of place in the morgues or cemeteries.

The woman who survived is a Cameroonian of 40 years and is named Josepha. According to the medical team aboard the Open Arms one of the two ships of the Spanish NGO, she is in hypothermia and in shock, but stable. However, she needs medical and psychological care "as fast as possible" .

"Lies and insults"

The medical team also recommended a rapid transfer of the two corpses, the boat without a cold room. According to the rescuers, the woman had been dead for hours at the time of their arrival, but the child only recently. On Tuesday evening, the Open Arms was heading north, hoping to find a port for the miraculum and the two corpses. But he intended to avoid the Italian waters: in March, the ship was placed in receivership for a month on charges of aid to illegal immigration.

The sailing ship Astral the second ship of the The NGO, however, remained in the relief zone, where the work of NGOs is severely limited by the firmness of Italy, which refuses to accommodate rescued migrants, and Malta, which prohibits stopovers. "That they save themselves time and money, they will see the Italian ports in postcard" repeated Tuesday morning the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, leader from the Italian far right

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The photos of the raft, and in particular of the dead child, have provoked strong reactions in Italy. "Salvini, the Libyan coastguards do this when they make a humanitarian rescue" exclaimed Erasmo Palazzotto, an Italian left-wing MP present on Open Arms ]. The minister responded by denouncing "lies and insults" and reaffirming: "Reducing departures and landings means reducing the number of deaths and reducing the profits of those who speculate on illegal immigration. I hold good, closed ports and open hearts. "