Thousands of migrants and refugees were rescued off the coast of Libya on Monday during a large scale effort involving Italian naval ships and other vessels.
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As many as 3,000 of the migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya by MSF, Proactiva Open Arms and Italian coast guard crews and one rescue took place in Maltese waters, said the CNN report. Médecins Sans Frontières’ ship Dignity 1 and the Spanish humanitarian group Proactiva Open Arms carried out the rescue on August 29.
People who were rescued and treated were experiencing health issues such as bloody diarrhea, dehydration, fever, hypothermia, skin diseases and exhaustion, according to Doctors Without Borders.
Over the same period, underlining the mortal risks, hundreds of bodies of migrants who drowned after being dumped in the water from unseaworthy vessels washed up on Libyan beaches.
About 106,000 people according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have already arrived in Italy. More than 100,000 people have left North Africa so far this year, the majority of them fleeing conflict, poverty and dictatorships in Nigeria, Eritrea or Gambia.
A man holds himself on the side of a boat after jumping off a crowded wooden boat in to the sea during a rescue operation Monday. Last year, more than 1 million migrants traveled to Europe.
However, the number of migrants arriving to the European Union has fallen compared to the same period a year ago. Médecins Sans Frontières is still transporting people rescued Monday to Vibo Valentia, Italy, where they will be treated for injuries, processed by immigration authorities and either allowed into Europe or sent back to their home countries.
The main departure route for refugees from Africa has been Libya, according to the IOM, as migrants take advantage of the country’s ongoing political chaos to escape over their mostly open borders.
Their mother, Merhawit Tesfamamrim, 26, took the babies when they were just 5 days old and boarded a boat with them in Libya, in a desperate bid to reach a better life in Europe.
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Doyle said he believed the reason there was such a sharp spike in the number of migrants setting off by boat from Libya was due to a break in recent poor weather that probably led to delays in their planned departures.
