BERLIN: German migrant rescue charity Sea-Eye said Friday one of its boats had picked up 223 migrants in the Mediterranean and accused Malta of failing to respond to distress calls.
The Sea-Eye 4 rescue ship has picked up the migrants in four rescue missions since Thursday “in the Maltese search and rescue zone,” the NGO said in a statement.
“Among them are 29 women, four of whom are pregnant, and eight children. The crew is currently searching for another boat in distress,” it said.
“Malta has again failed to fulfil its obligation to coordinate and solve maritime emergencies,” it added.
According to Sea-Eye, civilian sea rescue organizations are currently the only European forces actively searching for people and willing to bring them to safety.
“As the weather conditions are soon expected to worsen considerably, the chances of survival for those still at sea are decreasing considerably,” the charity said.
One child on board has a broken arm and another a broken finger, while two pregnant women are suffering from stomach pains, it said
Several people have had to be treated for chemical burns and hypothermia, it added.
Every year, tens of thousands of migrants seek to cross the central Mediterranean from north Africa, mainly from Libya and Tunisia.
The perilous crossings are often deadly, and the journeys are made even more complicated by winter weather.
German rescue ship picks up 223 migrants near Malta
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German rescue ship picks up 223 migrants near Malta
- The Sea-Eye 4 rescue ship has picked up the migrants in four rescue missions since Thursday "in the Maltese search and rescue zone"
- Civilian sea rescue organisations are currently the only European forces actively searching for people and willing to bring them to safety
India to provide $450 million to cyclone-ravaged Sri Lanka
COLOMBO: India has committed $450 million in humanitarian assistance to help Sri Lanka recover from the devastating damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Tuesday on a visit to the country.
The cyclone killed more than 640 people when it swept across the South Asian island last month, causing floods and landslides that inflicted about $4 billion in damage, according to the World Bank, or 4 percent of the country’s GDP.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has described the storm, which affected more than two million people, as the most challenging natural disaster in the island’s history.
Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit, told a media briefing in Colombo he had handed a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dissanayake, committing to a “reconstruction package of $450 million.”
While $350 million will take the form of “concessional lines of credit,” the remaining $100 million will be given as grants.
Jaishankar also noted the 1,100 tons of relief material, along with medicine and other necessary equipment, sent to India’s southern neighbor in the cyclone’s immediate aftermath.
“Given the scale of damage, restoring connectivity was clearly an immediate priority,” he said, detailing the Indian military’s assistance in providing portable bridges.
Jaishankar said India would also look at other ways to mitigate the losses, including encouraging Indian tourism to Sri Lanka.
“Similarly, an increase in foreign direct investment from India can boost your economy at a critical time,” he added.
The cyclone struck as Sri Lanka was emerging from its worst-ever economic meltdown in 2022, when it ran out of foreign exchange reserves to pay for essential imports such as food, fuel and medicines.
Following a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund approved in early 2023, the country’s economy has stabilized.
str-abh/cwl
