Seebrüecke, Sea Watch rescue 122 distressed migrants

Seebrüecke International and Sea Watch International have rescued 122 distressed migrants.

Seebrüecke’s AitaMari ship rescued 69 people whole Sea Watch International’s Aurora rescued 53 people..

Seebrüecke in a statement said: “On Thursday, the rescue ship #AitaMari of @maydayterraneo was able to rescue 69 people from 2 wooden boats. The ship was assigned the port of Genoa, 900km away.”

It said this is the first time that “such a small ship has been assigned such a distant port – this is unacceptable! In addition, 2-metre-high waves are forecast, making the journey even more difficult and dangerous.”

The @seawatch_intl ship #Aurora , the statement said also rescued 53 people from distress at sea on Friday. “They are being cared for on board. The Aurora is now on its way to Pozzallo, which has been assigned as a port of disembarkation – although #Lampedusa would have been 3.5 times closer.

“The #SeaEye4 is currently on its way to the central Mediterranean to support the civilian fleet and to counter the European policy of letting people drown.”

The statement regretted that the absence of a governmental sea rescue mission and the lack of safe escape routes make the deployment of the civilian fleet irreplaceable.

“In the face of thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean, it makes us angry that the work of the civilian fleet is deliberately hindered or even prevented by the allocation of distant ports and blockades of ships.”

Concluding, the statement said: “We demand an end to the obstruction of civilian sea rescue and freedom of movement for all people!”