The 57 migrants rescued on Saturday by the Sea Eye 5 crew landed in Crotone. Alarm Phone reported the boat in difficulty on Friday evening and only after several hours did the rescuers locate and reach it. «It was already taking on water – they say from Sea Eye – and the people on board had already been at sea for several days without food or water. Some of them urgently needed medical attention and the situation on board was made even more difficult by the bad weather conditions.”
«The situation was very critical – says Christin Linderkamp of German Doctors, responsible for medical assistance on Sea-Eye 5 -. Many were dehydrated, had fuel burns and severe seasickness. Despite immediate treatment, their conditions remained difficult.”
Due to the “critical situation on board”, the crew twice asked the Italian authorities to assign a closer port, but both requests were rejected. «The castaways had to endure another 50 hours of crossing, during which they were needlessly exposed to further physical and mental strain», say Sea Eye, which criticizes «the European authorities’ practice of assigning civilian rescue ships to distant ports. These delays endanger the lives of rescued people and represent an additional burden on crews and medical personnel.”
“This treatment of people seeking protection is profoundly inhumane,” concludes Kai Echemeyer, member of the Sea-Eye Board of Directors.