migrant rescue ship aquarius to end operations
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Migrant rescue ship Aquarius to end operations

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Migrant rescue ship Aquarius to end operations

The Aquarius rescue ship run by non-governmental organisations (NGO)
London - Arab Today

Search and rescue ship Aquarius, which has saved tens of thousands of migrants from drowning in the Mediterranean, has ended its operations, the charity that runs the ship, Doctors without Borders (MSF), said on Thursday.

MSF and its partner SOS Mediterranee said they were forced to terminate its operations due to a “smear campaign” by European governments.
The ship has been blocked at the French port of Marseilles since it lost its Panamanian registration at the end of September.

The Aquarius was the last charity rescue ship operating off of Libya. Last year there were five groups running rescue ships.

“This is a dark day. Not only has Europe failed to provide dedicated search and rescue capacity, it has also actively sabotaged others’ attempts to save lives,” said Vickie Hawkins, head of MSF UK, in a statement.

“The end of Aquarius means more lives lost at sea; more avoidable deaths that will go unwitnessed and unrecorded. It really is a case of ‘out of sight out of mind’ for UK and European leaders as men, women and children perish,” she said.

Nearly 5,000 migrants died in 2016 while trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East to flee war and poverty, according to the UN agency International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The number of migrants reaching Italy has fallen sharply since last year as smuggling networks inside Libya, a key departure point for mainly sub-Saharan Africans, have been disrupted and the European Union has stepped up efforts to increase Libyan coast guard patrols.

Data by IOM showed that more than 2,000 people have drowned so far this year.

Italian magistrates in November accused MSF of illegally dumping toxic waste at ports in southern Italy and ordered Aquarius to be impounded.
The charity denied any wrongdoing and accused Italy of seeking to criminalize humanitarian search and rescue missions.

The public prosecutor’s office in Catania, Sicily, said it believed crew on the Aquarius, and its sister ship VOS Prudence, had illegally dumped potentially dangerous medical waste among ordinary rubbish between January 2017 and May 2018.

The Aquarius, which was launched in 2015, at the peak of the migrant crisis in Europe. (Reporting by Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Jason Fields; . Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking and slavery, property rights, social innovation, resilience and climate change. Visit

From :Arabnews

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

migrant rescue ship aquarius to end operations migrant rescue ship aquarius to end operations

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

migrant rescue ship aquarius to end operations migrant rescue ship aquarius to end operations

 



GMT 09:16 2017 Wednesday ,13 December

Cape wearing tips

GMT 20:49 2017 Monday ,21 August

South Asia floods claim more than 750 lives

GMT 19:06 2016 Saturday ,10 December

IOF Close Al-Nabi Saleh Village's Entrance

GMT 18:01 2017 Wednesday ,22 February

Abu Sayyaf ‘likely’ behind Vietnam freighter attack

GMT 06:41 2017 Sunday ,03 December

Hamas threatens 'intifada' over US moves on Jerusalem

GMT 16:17 2017 Saturday ,21 January

BMW 7 series crosses 5,000 unit mark in 2016

GMT 12:17 2016 Wednesday ,24 February

United Technologies nixes Honeywell merger

GMT 23:37 2017 Monday ,31 July

Saudi Arabia sanctions Hezbollah member

GMT 05:45 2018 Saturday ,29 September

Abdullah bin Zayed hosts official reception in New York

GMT 04:12 2018 Friday ,12 January

Saudi-led coalition says Yemen rebels threat

GMT 11:18 2014 Monday ,22 December

Richard Ward adds to The Chelsea Collection

GMT 21:20 2017 Monday ,06 February

UN resumes food air drops in Deir Ezzor

GMT 22:24 2017 Friday ,15 December

HRH Premier thanked by Cambodian counterpart

GMT 02:11 2017 Monday ,23 October

Oct24/Nov22

GMT 21:31 2017 Monday ,11 December

HM King congratulates Burkinabe President

GMT 20:22 2017 Monday ,23 October

EU deplores attack against police
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday