Migrants avoid the Libyan Coast Guard to reach Europe

OPEN ARMS (AP) – The February storm does not forgive, violently shaking the ship of humanitarian rescuers as it tries to revive a faulty engine and rescue African migrants floating in the Mediterranean Sea after fleeing Libya on inadequate boats.

Not only must it withstand 70 km / h winds and 4-meter waves, but also win the race against the Libyan coast guard, which has been prepared and equipped by Europe to keep migrants away from its shores.

In recent days, Libyans have thwarted eight rescue attempts by Open Arms, a Spanish NGO ship, harassing and threatening its crew in international waters in the central Mediterranean, where 160 people have died so far this year.

The latest tragedy occurred on February 20, when a rubber boat carrying 120 people began to take water and waited for hours until a commercial ship in the area arrived to help. Forty-one people drowned, including three children and four women, said the UN Migration Agency, the International Organization for Migration.

Those who are rescued at sea are not necessarily safe. According to the IOM, from January 1 to February 22, nearly 3,600 people, including dozens of women and children, were intercepted and forcibly returned to Libya.

There, they are placed in miserable detention centers and subjected to abuse, torture, extortion and rape.

About 2,530 people have arrived in Europe after leaving Libya this year.

Among them is 3-month-old Moses, whose chubby cheeks barely stood out from under the oversized life jacket the rescuers tied to him as he safely transferred the baby and his Cameroonian mother aboard the ship. save Open Arms.

A day later, rescuers snatched 5-year-old Timi from a rubber boat under the intimidating gaze of the Libyan coast guard, a few meters away. Together with her mother, she embarked on a risky road to Europe through the Libyan desert six months ago to escape female genital mutilation on her native Ivory Coast, where the practice affects 55% of young girls, according to UNICEF.

Despite the nausea and vomiting caused by the rough sea, the prospect of a safer future in Europe, along with warm blankets, helped Timi fall asleep on the overcrowded deck of the Open Arms.

It would take another three days of stormy navigation for the 146 people rescued by the group in the 80th mission in the center of the Mediterranean to reach a safe harbor in Sicily.

But before they can even begin the difficult process of starting a new life on European soil, they must board another ship and be subject to a 14-day quarantine, a precautionary measure imposed by the Italian government to reduce the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic. Until then, they can only dream of a better life.

___ Renata Brito reported from Barcelona, ​​Spain.

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