" Two children died and one person is missing after a vessel capsized on Monday during an operation by a merchant vessel in the Tunisian SAR zone ." This was stated by the NGO Sea Watch , adding that "our ship Aurora could have intervened but is blocked by the Italian authorities in Lampedusa for baseless reasons." "We saw the boat in distress with 90 people on board at sea for three days. We asked for help. Frontex arrived six hours later, saw the vessel, and left. The Italian authorities are doing everything they can to prevent them from reaching Italy. There is a danger that the Libyan Coast Guard will take them to Libya."

" Yesterday morning, the people were still abandoned to their fate, at sea. European rescue ships could have reached them in about three hours, but they chose not to intervene ," Sea Watch continues. "When the nearby merchant ship Port Fukuka attempted to rescue them, the vessel capsized . Everyone on board ended up in the sea. Once rescued, two children were dead and one person was missing. Today, the people are still on the merchant ship. There is an imminent danger that the so-called Libyan coast guard will kidnap them and take them to Libya: to torture and death. This is unacceptable. Our fast rescue ship Aurora could have intervened to rescue these people. It is only four and a half hours away, but it is being blocked by the Italian authorities in the port of Lampedusa for baseless reasons."

For Sea Watch, "this shameful 'spectacle' is not over yet, but the Italian and European authorities have failed to intervene. It is a system that is doing what it was designed to do: letting people drown at the borders of Europe. Silently, systematically."

(Unioneonline)

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