Frustration grows among drifting immigrants in the Mediterranean



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By Darrin Zammit Lupi

SEA-WATCH 3 BORDER (Reuters) – After two weeks of drifting offshore and snowstorms, immigrants aboard a lifeboat are becoming increasingly frustrated , resources are scarce and the crew is exhausted, while no European country agrees to offer a safe harbor to the ship.

On December 22, Sea-Watch 3, a ship led by a German humanitarian group, rescued 32 people from a ship in poor condition near the Libyan coast, including three sick little children and four teenagers traveling alone.

The ship is now in Maltese waters and is protected from high winds and rough seas. In a desperate act, a migrant plunged Friday into the icy waters to try to reach the coast, but the crew quickly brought the boat back on board.

"We are on this boat and we do not understand what is going on," Reuters spokesman Bob Kiangala of the Democratic Republic of Congo told Reuters.

"We are not fish, we are not sharks, we are human beings like everyone else, we made this crossing, risked our lives to reach Europe, and now that we have arrived, Europe refuses, and we do not know why, "he said.

Another ship of a German humanitarian group, the Sea-Eye, is also in Maltese waters with 17 other people rescued on December 29 on board.

This week, more than 20 humanitarian groups, including Amnesty International and the United Nations World Migration Organization, have asked the European Union to provide a safe haven for both ships. .

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