{"id":771,"date":"2017-04-21T00:36:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T00:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/?p=771"},"modified":"2017-04-21T00:36:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T00:36:56","slug":"frenzied-rescues-save-more-than-2000-asylum-seekers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/2017\/04\/21\/frenzied-rescues-save-more-than-2000-asylum-seekers\/","title":{"rendered":"Frenzied rescues save more than 2,000 asylum seekers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Al Jazeera:<\/strong><\/p>\n

More than 2,000 asylum seekers<\/a> trying to reach Europe<\/a> were plucked from the Mediterranean on Friday in a series of dramatic rescues.<\/p>\n

An Italian coastguard spokesman said 19 rescue operations by the coastguard or ships operated by non-governmental organisations<\/a> had saved a total of 2,074 people on 16 overcrowded rubber dinghies and three small wooden boats.<\/p>\n

One person was found dead, the spokesman said.<\/p>\n

The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) boats Prudence and Aquarius rescued some 1,145 people from nine different dinghies in non-stop operations.<\/p>\n

\n

So far today #Prudence <\/a>and #Aquarius <\/a>have saved ~1000 #people <\/a>in 9 different boats from the sea. #EU <\/a>states keep their blind eyes turned. pic.twitter.com\/gWN5MzGoc9<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 14, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

MSF later posted a video showing women singing with happiness after their rescue.<\/p>\n

\n

After a long and difficult day like this one, these voices and songs of joy and happiness are our best reward. pic.twitter.com\/jiW2Yg2xXg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 14, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The rest of the asylum seekers were picked up by the coastguard, the Phoenix – run by the Maltese Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) – the German NGO Sea Eye and the German Jugend’s Iuventa.<\/p>\n

“In 19 years of covering the migration story, I have never experienced anything like today,” said Reuters news agency photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi, who was aboard the Phoenix.<\/p>\n

In one operation, it rescued 134 people, all from sub-Saharan counties, he said.<\/p>\n

Friday’s rescues come a day after\u00a0a shipwreck left at least 97 migrants\u00a0feared <\/a>drowned off the coast of Libya<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the International Organisation for Migration, nearly 32,000 asylum seekers arrived in Europe<\/a> by sea so far this year. More than 650 have died or are missing.<\/p>\n

EU’s border control agency, Frontex, has accused donor-funded vessels of doing more harm than good by sailing off Libya and acting “like taxis”, and Italian prosecutors have suggested they may have links with traffickers – a charge they have fiercely denied.<\/p>\n

“How many people would have crossed if we weren’t there today, Frontex? Probably the same. How many would have died? Probably, many more,” MSF said on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Where are Frontex boats in a day like this?” it asked. “EU states keep their blind eyes turned”.<\/p>\n

\n

Frontex director says it’s a paradox that 1\/3 of rescues are done by NGOs. We agree. Where are @Frontex <\/a>boats in a day like this? pic.twitter.com\/MDs4VvCm8t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 14, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Many more people could have died in a day like this if we arrived few hours later. We are where we’re needed,what’s the #EU <\/a>doing meanwhile? pic.twitter.com\/jrXFGMCWon<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 14, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

MSF said in a tweet that one teenager was found dead in a rubber boat whose passengers were rescued by its ship Aquarius. “In 2017, the sea continues to be a graveyard,” it said.<\/p>\n

\n

A very difficult rescue today for the #Aquarius <\/a>with one teenager found dead in a rubber boat. In 2017, the sea continues to be a graveyard. pic.twitter.com\/2gVh5AOOcd<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 14, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In one rescue operation by MOAS, desperate refugees<\/a> struggled to stay afloat after they slid off their rubber boat off the coast of Libya. Rescuers jumped into the water to help them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Al Jazeera: More than 2,000 asylum seekers trying to reach Europe were plucked from the Mediterranean on Friday in a series of dramatic rescues. An Italian coastguard spokesman said 19 rescue operations by the coastguard or ships operated by non-governmental organisations had saved a total of 2,074 people on 16 overcrowded rubber dinghies and three small wooden boats. One person… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":772,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions\/772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/europeandrussiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}