A pregnant woman on board the rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 is in critical condition, the German humanitarian NGO said in a statement on Saturday.
Several requests have been made to the Italian Maritime Rescue Centre several times by the head of mission, in which a medical evacuation was requested. However, Italy referred to the Libyan Maritime Distress Control Centre and Italy’s telemedicine service instead of assisting the woman.
Sea Eye reported that the Libyan sea rescue coordination centre did not respond to the request for help even after several hours while the Italian telemedical service concluded that a medical evacuation was necessary. However, the Italian emergency control centre in Rome continued to deny any responsibility and again referred to Libya.
In addition to the pregnant woman fighting for her life on board, two other people had fallen into the water during the rescue operation and were brought on board the rescue ship by the Sea-Eye crew. The persons had almost drowned, which means that there was already a lot of water in their lungs. The patients were immediately treated with pure oxygen. Among them is one pregnant women. The heart beat of her unborn child is no longer detectable, which has created a life-threatening situation for the mother and child.
“Italy is forcing us to deal with Libya, a failed state, instead of sending aid itself. A helicopter could reach the pregnant woman in acute danger of her life in less than an hour. Instead, Italy presents itself as a state that respects neither the life of a pregnant woman nor that of an unborn child. This is a medical, ethical and humanitarian scandal that should be brought before every court in the world,” director of mission at Sea-Eye Jan Ribbeck said.
“Instead of sending help themselves, Italy has been manoeuvring for hours about whether to send medical evacuations for people in acute danger of their lives. Finally, Italy is still forcing the survivors on an eight-hour crossing to Lampedusa. We demand that Italy immediately take all measures to protect the life of the pregnant woman on board the SEA-EYE 4 and send a helicopter for medical evacuation as soon as possible,” the NGO’s chairman Gorden Isler said.
Italy also instructed the SEA-EYE 4 to proceed to the port of Vibo Valentia after the medical evacuation in Lampedusa to disembark the remaining people rescued.
On Friday morning, AlarmPhone reported a maritime emergency to the crew of the Sea-Eye 4, which the rescue ship reached a short time later. The so-called Libyan Coast Guard was already on site and the Sea-Eye crew documented that there were people in the water.
The so-called Libyan Coast Guard instructed the Sea-Eye 4 by radio to move away from the scene or they would be attacked. While the so-called Libyan Coast Guard was trying to get people out of the water, the rubber boat detached from the vessel. The people fled from the violent militia. During the escape attempt, some people fell into the water, whereupon the Sea-Eye crew deployed rescue equipment and a lifeboat. The crew managed to bring all the people on board.
However, three people were unconscious and near death. The crew also found four bodies in the rubber boat. Furthermore, people from the rubber boat are missing and it is not clear whether they were brought back by the so-called Libyan coast guard or drowned during their operation.