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Immigration See other Immigration Articles Title: Leading migrant rescue alliance falls apart over coronavirus handling disagreement NGOs ended collaboration in Mediterranean amid lack of support from EU governments during pandemic Europe's leading migrant rescue alliance has fallen apart because of a lack of assistance from governments in the region amid the coronavirus pandemic. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee, two French charities that have rescued thousands of migrants from the Mediterranean Sea over the past four years, said they could no longer continue their joint sea-based mission, citing a disagreement related to the handling of coronavirus. In a statement released on Friday, MSF said it had "taken the very difficult decision to end our partnership with SOS Mediterranee" after a disagreeing over how to deal with pressure from European governments. The two NGOs had worked together since 2016, rescuing more than 30,000 migrants and refugees from the central Mediterranean, most recently with the Ocean Viking ship. MSF operations manager Annemarie Loof accused European countries of using the pandemic as an excuse to "shirk search and rescue obligations" to those trying to cross the Mediterranean. Italy closes ports to migrant ships because of coronavirus Read More » Furthermore, EU states have created "hostility" towards NGO search-and-rescue operations by "shutting their ports, leaving few assurances of a place of safety for disembarking rescued people," Loof said. "Although both MSF and SOS Mediterranee agree on the vital need for our lifesaving work at sea, SOS Mediterranee felt further assurance from states regarding a place of safety was necessary before sailing," she added. "For MSF, the humanitarian imperative to act was immediate, with or without such assurances: we could not stand by with a fully equipped search and rescue ship in port as people continue to flee Libya and risk drowning." SOS Mediterranee's Sophie Beau told AFP she could not guarantee the safety of either the crews or the people being rescued. "We could not take responsibility for going back to sea when all the indicators are in the red," she said. More than 100,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year, with at least 1,200 dying in the attempt, according to the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM). Many disembarked from ports in war-torn Libya and headed for Italy, whose government caused outrage among NGOs last week by closing its ports to restrict the spread of coronavirus. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Ada (#0)
Wouldn't you know the orgs are French, with a girl spokescreature! And look at this mission creep -- Médecins Sans Frontières means doctors without borders. Everything gliberal morphs into something even worse gliberal, or has a phony euphemistic name right from the start.
_____________________________________________________________ USA! USA! USA! Bringing you democracy, or else! there were strains of VD that were incurable, and they were first found in the Philippines and then transmitted to the Korean working girls via US military. The 'incurables' we were told were first taken back to a military hospital in the Philippines to quietly die. – 4um
Its an ill wind that blows no good
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