Two Boats Save 103 People Amid Threats From the Libyan Guard

On Sunday, humanitarian ships Louise Michel and Humanity 1 carried out a dangerous rescue in the Mediterranean, saving 103 migrants who were traveling in a small rubber dinghy amid threats from an armed Libyan coast guard boat.

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The crew of the Louise Michel, a rescue boat financed by the British urban art artist Banksy, distributed life jackets, water, and food to the migrants, while awaiting the arrival of Humanity 1, a larger ship owned by the German SOS Humanity.

"When a Libyan Coast Guard speedboat arrived, panic broke out among the migrants and water entered the rubber dinghy. Due to the immediate emergency situation, the Louis Michel crew took everyone to the boat," SOS Humanity explained.

To ensure the safety of the survivors, including a pregnant woman and over 30 children, rescuers decided to transfer the migrants to Humanity 1, where they could receive better care for hypothermia.

SOS Humanity denounced that the Libyan Coast Guard, armed with a machine gun, verbally assaulted the crews. Subsequently, it towed the empty dinghy towards the Libyan coast.

Over the weekend, the Geo Barents, a humanitarian ship operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), was also in the Mediterranean and rescued 164 people, including 50 unaccompanied minors.

This is the first mission of the MSF ship after the conflict it had in early November with the Italian government, which prevented the Geo Barents from disembarking the shipwrecked, arguing that the new anti-immigration policy only allows disembarkation of vulnerable people.