MSF Reinforces Its Search And Rescue Operation the Mediterranean Sea
MEDECINS SANS Frontieres launched, on Saturday May 9th, a second boat for search and rescue in the Mediterranean Sea in order to help those who risk their lives in a desperate attempt to reach Europe.
The boat consists of a crew of 26 people including search operations specialists and sea rescue and medical personnel.
The Bourbon Argos left Saturday, March 9 the port of Augusta, Sicily. It will work in parallel with the MY Phoenix, another boat managed jointly with the MOAS organization (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) operational since May 2 and has already rescued 487 people, and assisted in the rescue of 204 others.
"Since the beginning of the year, more than 1,750 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean," said Francois Zamparini, the MSF emergency coordinator aboard the Bourbon Argos. Many have fled war, violence or extreme poverty. This is unfortunately just the beginning and that number is expected to increase with the arrival of the summer season, more conducive to the crossing. We adapt to the scale of the humanitarian crisis with that extra boat".
A full medical team on board
On board, a medical team of doctors and nurses, experts in logistics, treatment and purification and of cultural mediators provide medical care and distribute essential commodities. The medical team will also make an initial triage, stabilize the patients and refer the most urgent cases.
The Bourbon Argos will accommodate 300-350 people on board and be able to quickly divert to answer a distress call. The boat 68 meters is specially designed for this type of search and rescue at sea. Several healthcare containers were attached on the back deck. They contain an emergency room, consultation room and observation, health, a stock and a morgue.
Operations necessary
"The growing number of people forced to risk their lives at sea is a direct consequence of the lack of access to safe and legal channels to seek asylum in European countries," says Aurélie Ponthieu, Advisor for Migration and Humanitarian Affairs MSF. "If these rescue and sea research operations are needed now to save lives, they do not represent in any way a solution on the long term. Our teams at sea and on the Mediterranean coast will have no choice but to continue their work until the situation has not been managed in a humane and adequate by the European authorities."
These last 15 years, MSF has provided assistance to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees throughout Europe. In addition to these search and rescue at sea carried out by the MY Phoenix Bourbon Argos, MSF treats people who land on the Sicilian coast to Pozzallo; provides mental health care and psychological support in the ports of arrival and reception centers in the region Ragusa, Sicily; providing medical care and basic necessities, and supports victims of torture in Serbia and Greece.
Source: MSF [In French]
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