Open Arms asks for help in light of declining donations and constant rescues in the Central Mediterranean

The tragedy and the trickle of deaths on the migratory routes by sea to Europe seems to have no end. Six people have died as a result of the shipwreck of a small boat in the Central Mediterranean, one of them a six-month-old baby, who had been urgently evacuated by the Open Arms ship along with five other people in serious condition. The baby died despite the work of the NGO’s medical team.

The Open Arms ship rescued, in three different evacuations only a few hours apart, 263 people who were trying to reach Europe. On the first rescue in international waters, the Open Arms rescued 88 people who were sailing in a rubber boat. Hours later, at night, the search for another boat began but was not successful, until they were able to find it in daylight. The ship of the Badalona-based NGO rescued 111 people travelling in a small boat that was shipwrecked in the Central Mediterranean about a hundred kilometres off the coast of Libya.

It was in this rescue that they recovered the five lifeless bodies, in addition to the six-month-old baby, who had died as a result of the shipwreck. ‘As we were passing out vests and masks to everyone, the middle of the small boat suddenly came apart, making everyone fall into the sea,’ Open Arms explains. A few hours after the end of this rescue, the Open Arms ship rescued another boat with 64 people on board.

‘Right now, we’re the only humanitarian ship in the Central Mediterranean, the rest of the humanitarian ships are stranded in port by the administrations and there is no clearer case than this one, that if we hadn’t been there, over a hundred people would have died,’ they explain from the Badalona-based NGO. At the same time they were carrying out the first rescue, there was a shipwreck in which thirteen people died. And a few hours ago, an alert indicated that another shipwreck had occurred off the coast of Libya with 70 people on board.

An urgent situation

In this context, Open Arms makes a call for help due to the situation facing the Badalona-based NGO, which has suffered a large drop in donations in recent months as a result of the pandemic. ‘It’s very important for our ship to be there, to continue saving many lives. This ship works only through contributions from civil society, which is why we invite people to support us through these donations’, says Open Arms.

‘Since the beginning of the pandemic, in March, donations have plummeted and we find ourselves in a rather urgent situation. We need the help of civil society, first of all to save these lives, and also to denounce that the human rights and the right to life of these people are being violated. It’s the administrations that should be doing this work’, they denounce from the NGO. On its website you can find various ways to help the Badalona-based NGO.