ROME: The European charity ship Ocean Viking said Friday it rescued another 135 migrants, including a pregnant woman and eight children, from a double-decker boat in Maltese search-and-rescue waters.
In total, the vessel operated by the humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee was carrying 359 shipwreck survivors, it said, adding the ship had been assigned to the distant port at Ancona, in Italy’s central Marche region.
“Such a long navigation should never be imposed on persons rescued at sea,” the rescue organization wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Non-governmental organizations operating in the central Mediterranean Sea have repeatedly warned that the far-right-led Italian government’s policy of assigning ports farther north keeps their rescue ships out of waters where they can be saving lives.
Migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, often flee war and poverty in their own countries in search of a better life in European nations via the Mediterranean Sea.
Rome has recently ordered the ships to port after each rescue, punishing groups that conduct other rescues by holding ships in port for 20 days at a time.
The Ocean Viking has been subject to three such blocks over three months, the most recently from Feb. 8 until a judge lifted the block 10 days later.
Friday’s rescue came a day after survivors saved from a deflating rubber dinghy in the central Mediterranean on Thursday reported that some 60 people who departed from Libya with them more than a week ago had perished during the journey.
The Ocean Viking spotted the dinghy with 25 people on board Wednesday. Two were unconscious and were evacuated to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, some 60 miles (97 kilometers) to the north. The other 23 were in serious condition, exhausted, dehydrated and with burns from fuel on board the boat.
An SOS Mediterranee spokesman said the survivors were traumatized and unable to give full accounts of what had transpired during the voyage, adding that the number of missing and presumed dead was unlikely to ever be verified.
Humanitarian groups often rely on accounts of survivors when pulling together the numbers of dead and missing at sea, presumed to have died.
The UN International Organization for Migration says 227 people have died along the perilous central Mediterranean route this year through March 11, not counting the new reported missing and presumed dead. That’s out of a total 279 deaths in the Mediterranean since Jan. 1. A total of 19,562 people arrived in Italy using that route in the period.
European charity ship rescues 135 migrants but is assigned to distant port in Italy with 359 aboard
https://arab.news/ybafc
European charity ship rescues 135 migrants but is assigned to distant port in Italy with 359 aboard
- Migrants often flee war and poverty in their own countries in search of a better life in European nations
- The Ocean Viking spotted the dinghy with 25 people on board Wednesday
From round fruits to lucky charms: How Filipinos invite prosperous New Year
- Lights are lit, doors and windows open to allow good spirits in
- Sticky rice dishes are served to keep family sticking together
MANILA: With the dining table set with symbolic foods, a bit of noise and rituals to invite good luck, Filipinos are ready to welcome the New Year, carefully observing every tradition and superstition to bring prosperity.
Media noche or the midnight dinner on New Year’s Eve is central to the celebration. Besides traditional meats, there will be sticky rice dishes to keep the family sticking together, and pancit or long rice noodles to represent long life.
There should also be 13 round fruits prepared specifically for the occasion, with 12 representing each month of the year, and the 13th adding extra luck. Because they are round like coins, they are believed to invite abundance, wealth and prosperity.
“We cook bilo-bilo (sticky rice balls) with coconut milk and palitaw (sweet rice cakes). It’s something we simply grew up with,” said Cel Reyes from Mabini in Batangas province, south of Manila.
“It’s sticky, so it symbolizes togetherness, and it is also round. Anything that’s round is prepared also as a symbol of prosperity.”
In Malabon, a coastal city in the northern part of Metro Manila, Priam Nepomuceno’s 86-year-old mother-in-law sets unhulled rice on the table.
“Because of the gold color, it’s believed to bring luck and abundance,” he said. “Grapes are also hung on the door. They’re not meant to be eaten and are kept hanging for the whole year as a symbol of prosperity.”
Some people also jump when the clock strikes 12, believing it will help them grow taller.
In many households, all lights are lit before midnight, with doors and windows open to allow good spirits to enter, while noise from firecrackers and party horns keeps the bad ones at bay.
“By nature, Filipinos are superstitious. We believe in good luck, deities. We give in to faith and luck, and it’s tied to deep spirituality,” said Juanita Galang-Trinidad, an 80-year-old editor from Bulacan province north of Manila.
“We also put 12 coins in varying amounts in our pockets and wear polka dot clothing. Rice, cereal, and salt containers should be full.”
New Year’s celebrations, like Christmas, bring families together, but with extra traditions for good luck. Beyond the midnight feast and keeping round objects on the table and at hand, Filipinos try to pay off debts to avoid financial trouble in the coming year.
On New Year’s Eve, they also avoid serving chicken, as chickens are believed to scratch backward when they eat, symbolically scratching away good fortune.
“We hold on to our traditions despite these growing changes, modernity, in our environment,” Trinidad said.
“We still hold on to our traditions and customs because they identify us as a people, as Filipinos.”
