Dear friends of Sea-Eye,
shocked and angry: While we came to the aid of 84 people in distress at sea yesterday, aggressive Libyan militias targeted our rescue boat with weapons. Next to them in the overcrowded rubber boat: many women and families with children. What else is going to happen...?
At around 10 o'clock in the morning yesterday, SEA-EYE 4 received a distress call from Alarmphone: a rubber boat in distress - overcrowded with around 80 people. Within an hour, our crew located the people calling for help but the Italian authorities refused to coordinate the distress at sea - referring to Libya. It was clear to everyone: nobody answers the phone in Libya.
In the meantime, the crew members of the MOCHARA lifeboat provided life jackets to the people seeking protection on the rubber boat. Two people were rescued from the waves. Then it happened: two ships from the so-called Libyan Coast Guard approached at high speed. Head of Mission Julie Schweickert describes the "super aggressive" behavior of the Libyans. During the rescue, they pointed their weapons at the crew of our rescue boat. Despite the threatening situation, the crew remained focused - evacuating each of the 84 people one by one: Men, women, families with children. Four of them are less than 2 years old. No gunshot was fired. Not this time. Fortunately.
The joint medical team from German Doctors e.V. and Sea-Eye e.V. immediately began providing medical care to the rescued people on board. Many people were hypothermic - one baby had to be given oxygen for a short time. All of them were quickly stabilized. The assigned port of Ancona is still an imposition: it would take 4 days to get the people there - we will try to fight for a closer port. Because only when the people are safe will our crew be able to come to terms with what happened: that they, as humanitarian aid workers, had to look down the barrel of a gun during a mission. It is impossible to imagine what might have happened if our rescue ship had not been on site.
Situations like this make things clear again and again: we need to be in the area of operation as often and as long as possible! We still don't have the money to be able to leave again immediately after this mission. That is why we are making an urgent request today: Please donate for our next mission. Help us to protect people - to save people. If in doubt, even from armed violence.
Yours
Gorden Isler
- Chairman of Sea-Eye e. V.