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    'I'm going to jump': Tensions running high on migrant rescue ship

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    Thursday, January 28, 2021
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    'I'm going to jump': Tensions running high on migrant rescue ship

    The ship has been turning in circles between Sicily & Malta, awaiting disembarkation port


    Published:  July 01, 2020 19:04 AFP  and  compiled by Balaram Menon, Digital Content Editor

    1 of 15
    Copy of 198384-01-02-1593609573334
    The young Sudanese man cast off his T-shirt and cried desperately out to sea: "I swear to you, I'm going to jump. I don't know how to swim but I can't stay here anymore!" Pictured: Migrants react as they are rescued by activists of French NGO SOS Mediterranee boat Ocean Viking off the coast of Libya. Image Credit: AFP
    2 of 15
    Copy of 223406-01-02-1593609589323
    After just over a week at sea, tensions are running high on the Ocean Viking, the charity ship that pulled the young man and others like him from the Mediterranean, but which is now marking time, waiting for a safe port of welcome for the migrants. Above: Rescued migrants, from 55km off the coast of Italian island of Lampedusa, arrive at the Ocean Viking. Image Credit: AFP
    3 of 15
    Copy of 164689-01-02-1593609593719
    Despite their rescue on June 23 by the ship, charted by European humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee, many of the migrants who fled Libya for Europe are now frustrated, tired, and desperate, as witnessed by an AFP correspondent on board. Image Credit: AFP
    4 of 15
    Copy of 223426-01-02-1593609587075
    On Tuesday evening, SOS Mediterranee rescued an additional 47 people from the waters south of Italy's Lampedusa, bringing to 164 the number of migrants aboard. The organisation said the new migrants were mostly from Bangladesh, South Sudan, Pakistan and Ghana. Image Credit: AFP
    5 of 15
    Copy of 198405-01-02-1593609568518
    Before the most recent rescue, the 69-metre boat had been turning in circles between Sicily and Malta, awaiting a port of disembarkation as some of the migrants, including Moroccans, Egyptians and Sudanese, become increasingly panicked. Image Credit: AFP
    6 of 15
    Copy of 223455-01-02-1593609582680
    At the top of the list of frustrations is the migrants' inability to speak with their families. "I was at sea for a long time. I didn't warn the family, who must think I'm dead," said Said, a 35-year-old Egyptian on the verge of tears. "I'm sure my children think 'Daddy's dead'." Image Credit: AFP
    7 of 15
    Copy of 200883-01-02-1593609561500
    Like the Sudanese man, Said had also threatened to plunge himself into the water were he not allowed to place a phone call. "I had told them that it would take two days to cross. Now it's almost seven days," explained Said, wearing a Paris Saint-Germain track suit and with his leg in a cast from an injury onboard. Image Credit: AFP
    8 of 15
    Copy of 198426-01-02-1593609563852
    Sometimes the migrants lash out at their rescuers. One Moroccan man complained that their boat "had almost arrived" at Lampedusa when they were pulled in by the Ocean Viking, 100 kilometres (60 miles) from shore. "It's been five days and we're still here, let us leave," he cried. Image Credit: AFP
    9 of 15
    Copy of 198417-01-02-1593609566126
    One man was evacuated from the boat Monday for medical reasons and transferred to the Italian coast guard. The group said Tuesday that Italy had still not yet responded to requests to take the rescued migrants. Image Credit: AFP
    10 of 15
    Copy of 198377-01-02-1593609575909
    As stress levels have risen, so have rumours, such as the false belief that the Bangladeshis on board have access to a wifi network and are secretly sending messages to their families. Image Credit: AFP
    11 of 15
    Copy of 223460-01-02-1593609580233
    The SOS Mediterranee team has sought to defuse tensions, telling migrants to "be patient". Other migrants on past rescue operations have thrown themselves into the water, seeking to swim to land. Image Credit: AFP
    12 of 15
    Copy of 198391-01-02-1593609570907
    To alleviate the cramped quarters, the team has opened an area usually used exclusively for women, given that there is only one on board and she is in the company of her husband. Image Credit: AFP
    13 of 15
    Copy of 200884-01-02-1593609591704
    Ludovic, one of the SOS Mediterranee team who sought to reason with the migrants, acknowledged that things have become heated aboard the boat. "But above all, it's shameful that Europeans don't respond to our demands for a landing port. It's inhuman to let them languish there in these conditions," he told AFP. "Let the politicians come and see these people sleeping on the ground in a container." As the days go by, the question on everyone's mind is simple: "When will we arrive in Europe?" Image Credit: AFP
    14 of 15
    Copy of 223432-01-02-1593609584821
    Maggie, in charge of humanitarian issues on board, sat in a circle with migrants grouped by nationality to try to explain. "According to international maritime law, anyone rescued at sea must be taken to a safe port, and Libya is not a safe country," she said. Image Credit: AFP
    15 of 15
    Copy of 225564-01-02-1593609578175
    "OK," responded one Bangladeshi. "But for our families, for the moment, we're still dead." Image Credit: AFP

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