EUROPEAN states must resume saving lives in the central Mediterranean, a refugee-rescue organisation urged today before disembarking more than 370 people in Italy. The Ocean Viking, a rescue ship operated by SOS Mediterranee, rescued 374 people from four boats in distress off the coast of Libya at the weekend. “While we are relieved for the 373 people on our ship, we insist again that a return to an effective co-ordination of state-led search and rescue in the central Mediterranean is vital. Another refugee boat carrying about 45 people who had left Libya at the weekend reached the Italian island of Lampedusa today. According to the latest IOM figures, 469 people have been returned to Libya so far this month, 12 have died in the central Mediterranean and 67 people are missing.

Source: Libya Today January 25, 2021 17:26 UTC