The Open Arms will land in Taranto

The Italian government has made the port of Taranto available to the Spanish Open Arms NGO, which on Thursday 21 November rescued 73 people in the stretch of sea between Italy and Libya. For days the crew had asked for a port to land to the governments of Italy and Malta, but so far had not received a response. On Twitter, the Spanish NGO has made it known that due to bad weather it will not be able to move to Italy before today, Monday 25 November.

Two days ago the Italian government had made available another Italian port, the Messina one, to the Ocean Viking ship of the NGO Sos Mediterranee, which had rescued 213 people in the previous days. According to an estimate by the UN agency for migration (IOM), at least 600 migrants left Libya between 19 and 21 November.

LAST HOUR
Assigned Taranto as port of landing for the 62 people on board #OpenArms. Impossible to move before tomorrow due to weather conditions. https://t.co/cjHNgRmUtN

– Open Arms IT (@openarms_it) November 24, 2019

In the hours following the rescue operation, Open Arms volunteers had made it known that among the people on board there were "cases of traumatic shock, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, firearm injuries, severe hypothermia, dehydration". Already on 24 November, eleven people in serious condition had been transported urgently to Italy. Among the 73 people rescued, among other things, as many as 24 were unaccompanied minors, that is particularly vulnerable people who would need specific care and attention.

🔴#update
Completed complicated medical evacuation of 11 people in front of the coasts of #Augusta. Children with families, wounded from burns and firearms and other medical cases land in Italy.
Now we await a safe haven for the 62 people who are still on board. pic.twitter.com/q2oF6LtvvB

– Open Arms IT (@openarms_it) November 24, 2019

The IOM noted that the peak of departures from Libya coincided with a new increase in civil war violence in Tripoli and its suburbs, where for months the militias belonging to the national unity government of Fayez al Serraj and those have been fighting loyal to General Khalifa Haftar. It is estimated that at least 200 have been intercepted by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard – a militia corps that brings migrants back to Libyan detention centers, where human rights are systematically violated – and among the 600 or so people who left between 19 and 21 November. in small part by the Tunisian coast guard.

Another 149 were instead rescued near Lampedusa, shortly after the shipwreck on which they were on board. During the weekend the bodies of five women were recovered, while according to the testimonies of migrants there are at least 15 missing persons.

There are 149 survivors rescued today during complex rescue operations. From 16 today all our operative health teams a #Lampedusa, were engaged in health activities on board of the patrol boats of the @Coast Guard, 1 team is still on board pic.twitter.com/XAbUoIALOZ

– CISOM (@ CIS0M) November 23, 2019