On December 4, at nightfall, the Doctors Without Borders team conducted the first rescue of rotation 20. 74 people were on board of an overcrowded rubber boat in distress in international waters off the Libyan coast. Mediterranean Sea, 2022. © Candida Lobes/MSF
On December 7, at 11:31 am, Fatima* gave birth to little *Ali. She was rescued in the morning of Tuesday 6 Dec from an unstable rubber boat travelling with 90 people on board, among whom her other three children. Fatima had fled Libya with her three sons. Mediterranean Sea, 2022. © Candida Lobes/MSF
In addition to being immoral and increasing the psychological trauma of the family, their separation would have gone against two fundamental and universal human rights: the right to family life and unity together with the principle of the best interest of the child. After hours of negotiations, all the members of the family were finally taken to Lampedusa and then transferred to Sicily, where we hope they will get the appropriate care and protection. Another woman on board, nine months pregnant, also needed immediate medical attention that could not be provided on the ship and was evacuated to Malta the same night. The evacuation of a 14-year-old boy is imminent too.
"We are of course relieved that the medical evacuations have taken place. Further delays could have not only impacted their well-being but also caused deterioration of their fragile health status, as medical follow-up was essential,” says Kira Smith, Midwife on Geo Barents.
The proposal from the authorities was troubling on multiple levels.
Separating the family makes no sense at all and is against the children’s interest. Leaving aside the trauma this decision would have caused, Fatima's* other three children are under 11 years old and cannot remain unaccompanied either," says Oscar Schaible, Humanitarian Affairs Officer on Geo Barents. "Family reunification would have been a long administrative process and another difficult experience for them."Oscar Schaible,Humanitarian Affairs Off.
After these intense days of rescues and medical evacuations, the Geo Barents is now heading north to disembark the 249 – soon 248 – children, women and men in a place of safety. Requests for a place of safety have already been sent to Malta, which has not granted them and continues to fail in its duties. The Geo Barents has therefore moved towards the closest subsequent state, Italy, and has started to ask for a port to disembark the survivors. According to the international law and maritime conventions** all rescued people must be disembarked as quickly as possible to a place of safety, a location where rescue operations are considered to terminate, where the survivors' safety of life is no longer threatened and where their basic human needs are respected.
We are asking for a place of safety and the same situation is repeating again and again but this is not another time to play with the survivors on board. They must not be used as political leverage. We are not begging, we are simply asking and calling on Malta and Italy to comply with their legal obligations. Waiting for days, a week or more is not acceptable. Let's stop playing with human lives.Juan Matias Gil, SAR Representative
Doctors Without Borders has been active and engaged in search and rescue activities since 2015, working on eight different vessels (alone or in partnership with other NGOs). Our teams have rescued more than 85,000 people. Since launching search and rescue operations on board the Geo Barents in May 2021, Doctors Without Borders has rescued 5,497 people and recovered the bodies of 11 people.
*names have been changed for anonymity
**UNCLOS Art. 98 and SOLAS Regulation 33; Guidelines on the Treatment of Persons Rescued at Sea.
