As the German NGO “Sea-Eye” reports they were shot in warning by Libyan-flagged speedboats to stop the volunteer rescue staff during a SAR operation, when they tried to save migrants off Libyan territorial seas.
Specifically, on Saturday morning, October 26, the rescue vessel “Alan Kurdi” received a distress call from migrants outside Libyan territorial seas. When arrived at the scene, the rescuers saw an overloaded raft; Thus, the Kurdi’s responders provided lifejackets to the passengers and begun to transfer them on board when two white speedboats arrived.
Both speedboats were flying under the Libyan flag, and one of them had a mounted machine gun towards the bow. The man operating the machine gun fired off several shots and gestured menacingly.
Despite the interference, the Alan Kurdi’s crew was able to rescue over 90 people, and the Kurdi is now under way for Lampedusa, Italy.
The rescue vessel might have to wait to enter a port in Italy; Given that migration is a controversial issue in Europe, the two most common destinations for the cross-Mediterranean route – Italy and Malta – impose restrictions on NGO-rescued arrivals.
The two states have reached an agreement with Germany, France and Finland about apportioning new asylum seekers from Africa, but the plan will need to gain support from other EU member nations.