At Least 29 Migrants Die from Exposure While in Coast Guard Custody

By Steve Scherer

ROME, Feb 9 (Reuters) – At least 29 migrants died of hypothermia aboard Italian coast guard vessels after being picked up from an inflatable boat adrift close to Libya, the mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa mentioned on Monday.

Two patrol boats picked up 105 migrants late on Sunday from the boat drifting in excessive sea situations, with waves as excessive as 8 metres (26 toes) and temperatures only a few levels above zero, the coast guard mentioned in a press release.

The migrants spent round 18 hours on the decks of one of many boats taking them to Lampedusa, buffeted by excessive winds and spray. At least 29 died en route of hypothermia, Lampedusa’s mayor, Giusi Nicolini, advised Reuters.

The variety of useless should still rise, she mentioned. One migrant had been taken by helicopter to the island of Sicily in essential situation, and the second patrol boat has but to achieve port.

Nicolini blamed the closure of Italy’s search-and-rescue mission, referred to as Mare Nostrum, final yr for the tragedy. Since then no navy ships able to maintaining massive numbers of migrants under deck have patrolled the waters close to the Libyan coast.

“Mare Nostrum was an emergency solution to a humanitarian crisis, so closing it was a huge and intolerable step backward,” Nicolini mentioned in a phone interview. Human rights teams repeatedly warned that ending the mission would endanger lives.

“The small patrol boats were completely swallowed by the waves during the trip back. If Mare Nostrum were still going, the migrants would have been given shelter inside a large ship within an hour.”

The patrol boats despatched from Lampedusa are small vessels that experience low to the water so crew members can pull individuals in. But they can’t accommodate many under deck.

Mare Nostrum was deserted by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s authorities partly as a result of public concern over the 114 million euro ($129 million) price of the mission in its first yr.

Now the European Union is working a border management operation known as Triton, with fewer ships and a a lot smaller space of operations.

Civil battle in Syria and anarchy in Libya swelled the variety of individuals crossing the Mediterranean final yr. Many paid smugglers $1,000-$2,000 to journey.

The United Nations refugee company says 160,000 seaborne migrants arrived in Italy by November 2014 and an additional 40,000 in Greece. Thousands have died making an attempt the journey.

“To organised crime it’s not important if people make it across the sea alive or dead,” Nicolini mentioned. “But now, without Mare Nostrum, it’s as if no one, and not just the criminals, cares if they live or die.” (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)