Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 28th of July 2020

Case name: 2020_07_28-CM273

Situation: 85 rescued to Lampedusa; 33 people including one child rescued by the Armed Forces of Malta

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean

Summary of the Case:

At about 20:30 CEST, 28 July 2020 we were contacted by a boat carrying 85 people. They had left Libya over 24 hours previously and were now in Italian SAR Zone. We contacted the Italian coastguard to pass on their position and ask for rescue.

We informed the world about the case in case the Italian coastguard shirked their responsibility with the following tweet:

This evening, Alarm Phone was alerted by about 85 people on a boat in distress in Italian territorial waters, close to #Lampedusa. They are still able to move on. The Italian authorities are informed.

Fortunately, the coastguard did their duty and, shortly after 22:00 the people on the boat contacted us to tell us that they had been rescued to Lampedusa. We put out a final tweet:

‪A relative of the people on board told us that they were just rescued to #Lampedusa! We are glad that the ~85 people survived this dangerous journey

On 28 July in the middle of the afternoon we were contacted by a boat that had left Libya some 10 to 12 hours earlier. The 33 travellers, including 1 child, were in a bad way. At least one person had lost consciousness, they were without water and the sea state was rapidly worsening. Fortunately for them, they had made it to the Maltese search and rescue zone. We forwarded the information to the Italian and Maltese authorities, copying in the UNHCR as we feared that the European coastguard would once again coordinate the so-called Libyan coastguard to pull the travellers back. We were unable to reach the Maltese authorities by phone. We also made the situation public, feeling that it was the travellers best defence against an illegal pullback operation. We tweeted:

Boat in danger in Malta SAR zone! A boat with ~33 people fleeing #Libya reached out to #AlarmPhone. The engine is not working & water is coming in. One person fainted. They are urgently asking for help. @ArmedForcesMT do not delay rescue & bring them to safety in #Europe now!

We remained in contact with the boat. The travellers became more and more desperate as their health conditions worsened. People, including our contact, passed out with heatstroke, exhaustion and dehydration. The sea state was also becoming more and more treacherous. We were unable to raise the Maltese authorities on the phone, but it was apparent that they were doing something as the people on board were able to see a helicopter and a naval vessel.

Well after nightfall, the travellers were approached by a Maltese naval vessel which distributed water to the passengers. Both them and us were concerned that the Maltese were in fact attempting to coordinate an interception with the so-called Libyan coastguard, rather than arrange a rescue.

We lost contact with the boat and, unsure whether or not they had been rescued or forcibly returned to Libya, We tweeted:

We lost contact to the boat in distress more than two hours ago and are deeply concerned about the well-being of the people on board. We call on the Maltese Armed Forces to live up to their duty and carry out a rescue operation and provide a port of safety in Europe.

Finally we learned that the Armed Forces of Malta had done their duty and that the people had been taken to the European island.