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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · 21d

On 05/09, Italian authorities grounded @PVolontaires’ Colibri 2 for 20 days and fined them €100,000 - for upholding maritime law & help saving lives.

It further restricts already limited rescue capacity in the Central Mediterranean.

A grounded aircraft means more lives lost.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · 21d

Samir & Sonia left Eritrea and crossed the Sahara desert by foot to reach Libya.
After being exploited and ransomed, Sonia got pregnant.
While she was already in labour to deliver her baby, she was denied help at the hospital door for being Christian.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · 21d

We're working to get back to sea - because people are still risking everything, and their stories must be heard. With rescue ships detained and silenced, we’re one of the last witnesses out there. Today, we share the story of Samir and Sonia:
youtu.be/b6onx1Thffo

From Eritrea to Tripoli: Survival Amid Conflict and Discrimination

YouTube video by SOS MEDITERRANEE

youtu.be

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · 23d

What will we be doing?

• Assess the damage
• Repair what needs to be fixed
• Bring the perpetrators to justice
• Call the EU for the protection of humanitarians and end their criminalisation
• Call for the suspension of financial & operational support to the Libyan Coast Guard

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · 23d

The attacks on the Ocean Viking by the Libyan Coast Guard on 24/08 caused significant material damage to the ship and rescue equipment.
Our operations will be on hold until we are fully ready to resume our life-saving mission and after assessing how we can go back at sea safely.

Credit: Max Cavallari / SOS MEDITERRANEE

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · 26d

"In a sea of silence, abandonment and violence, they offer the rarest thing: someone is still looking for you. […]
That your life matters."

Journalist @alexhowl.bsky.social was onboard the #OceanViking during 2 rescues and the shootings by Libyan Coast Guard. 👇

www.service95.com/the-reality-...

The Reality Of Europe’s Border Crisis: This Is Life Onboard Migrant Rescue Ships

It was late afternoon, the heat thick and unmoving, when the call came through. I was the only journalist aboard the Ocean Viking, a search-and-rescue ship patrolling the Central Mediterranean, wh

www.service95.com

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · 27d

Crew members were scattered around the Ocean Viking when it was being shot massively by Libyan Coast Guard on the 24/08.

They recall their thoughts as they struggled to take shelter and protect the 87 survivors onboard, while bullets were targeting them all around the ship.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Sep 5

Recordings on the bridge of the Ocean Viking during the shooting of 24/08 testify about the attack from Libyan Coast Guard without prior warning. It highlights the lack of support from authorities who failed to act to protect the 34 crew and 87 survivors onboard.
youtu.be/8OMiem2kM-I

Survivors and humanitarian crew under heavy fire from Libyan Coast Guard

YouTube video by SOS MEDITERRANEE

youtu.be

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 29

After being stuck on board for days, the crew on #OceanViking is finally disembarking, as the health authorities lift the isolation they had imposed.
Time for them to rest and recover from an horrific experience, allowed by European complicity.
Our hearts are with them.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 28

4days after the Libyan CG attack, our crew is still stranded onboard due to lengthy and unorthodox health protocols.
Their #mentalhealth is impacted: they are in the same site of the traumatic event.
Immediate support and disembarkation are urgently needed.

www.sosmediterranee.org/four-days-af...

Four Days After Armed Attack, Ocean Viking Staff Still Stranded Aboard Under Lengthy and Unsuitable Tuberculosis Protocols - SOS MEDITERRANEE

The Ocean Viking disembarked 87 survivors in Augusta, Sicily, on Monday, 25 August. Since then, the vessel has been instructed to remain at anchor outside the port. 34 individuals have been (...)

www.sosmediterranee.org

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 26

“It is unacceptable that the EU funds and collaborates with extremely violent partners who attack humanitarian workers and survivors, directly threatening their lives.”
Ayla, Deputy SAR Coordinator from the bridge where dozens of bullets were found after the Libyan CG attack.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 26

🚨Yesterday, 87 survivors disembarked safely in #Augusta, mostly people from #Sudan fleeing war and persecution.

After all they have been through they had to face the armed attacks of our rescue ship by Libyan Coast Guard.

Even our humanitarian ship is no longer a safe place.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 25

🔴 Update:
Following Italian authorities’ request, #OceanViking is heading to Augusta instead of Syracuse to disembark the 87 survivors.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 25

Yesterday, our teams and survivors on the Ocean Viking were deliberately shot at by Libyan Coast Guard, on a vessel gifted by Italy.
We demand a full investigation into these horrifying events and an immediate end to all European collaboration with Libya.
www.sosmediterranee.org/sos-med-liby...

Ocean Viking under heavy fire by Libyan Coast Guard in unprecedented attack against survivors and humanitarian workers - SOS MEDITERRANEE

The MV Ocean Viking, search and rescue vessel chartered by SOS MEDITERRANEE in partnership with the IFRC, was deliberately targeted in a shooting by the Libyan Coast Guard.

www.sosmediterranee.org

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 24

Today at 3pm, the #OceanViking has been deliberately and violently attacked in intl. waters by the Libyan Coast Guard, who fired hundreds of shots at our ship. The 87 survivors and crew on board were not wounded. We are currently working on a detailed reconstruction of events.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 24

2/2 Italian authorities assigned Marina di Carrara 1,300 + km away as the Place of Safety. 3,5 long days of navigation.

Once again, this distant port pulls us away from the central #Mediterranean, where rescue efforts are desperately needed. This practice costs lives, everyday.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 24

1/2 Last night,the #OceanViking rescued 47 people including 9 unaccompanied minors from a rubber boat in distress in intl. waters off Libya following an alert by @alarm_phone.

Most are fleeing the war-torn #Sudan, where over 12 million people are displaced by a brutal conflict.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 22

The Central Mediterranean was the scene of concerning events in the past weeks.
The escalation of violence at sea targets both people on the move and humanitarians trying to render assistance among the erratic behaviour of actors who remain unidentified.

www.sosmediterranee.org/violence-and...

The void left by EU states has turned into chaos - SOS MEDITERRANEE

The Central Mediterranean was the scene of concerning events during the past weeks. The escalation of violence at sea targets both people on the move and the humanitarian crew trying to render (...)

www.sosmediterranee.org

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 21

A compelling piece by @reuters.com that highlights several realities: the dangers of the journey, the incoherence in rescue coordination, the life-saving collaboration among civil NGOs, and the impacts of delayed disembarkation in distant ports, to name a few:
www.reuters.com/graphics/MIG...

A decade after EU’s migrant crisis, hundreds still dying in Mediterranean

Italy hailed a drop in irregular arrivals last year as proof its migration policies are working. One boat's journey shows the dangers of the crackdown.

www.reuters.com

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 20

Yesterday, a little girl’s life has stopped.
She was just 6 years old.
She had spent 5 days at sea without food or water, trying to reach Lampedusa with her mother.
This is unacceptable.

How many more children have to die before the EU decides it’s enough?

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 19

📢Today is the #WorldHumanitarianDay.

Our @ifrc.org and @sosmediterranee.org crew onboard Ocean Viking, coming from all around the globe, stands together for the life-saving mission we pursue in the Central Mediterranean.

Listen to what drives their humanitarian commitment.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 17

2/2 These words are from the Deputy SAR Coordinator, after 7 survivors disembarked in #Ortona this morning.

Italian authorities' decision to send our ship 1500 km away from the rescue location, brings our team too far and for too long from the deadly Central Mediterranean sea.

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 17

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“It is deeply sad and frustrating to experience coordination that deliberately limits our capacity to save lives, while the past days have been filled with news of people shipwrecked at sea, abandoned, missing, or dead.”

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Reposted by SOS MEDITERRANEE

Sea-Watch (international) @en.sea-watch.org · Aug 14

Italy unlawfully detained our aircraft Seabird 1 for exposing human rights abuses in the Mediterranean. Without our eyes in the sky, shipwrecks, violent pullbacks, and non-assistance will go unreported. 17 organizations demand its release! 👇

We demand the immediate release of Seabird 1 • Sea-Watch e.V.

Italy’s latest decree-law attempts to blind the public to human rights violations and crimes against humanity at sea We, civil organisations operating aircraft in the central Mediterranean Sea, condem...

sea-watch.org

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SOS MEDITERRANEE @sosmediterranee.org · Aug 13

Today, at least 20 ppl, incl. a newborn, have died after two boats capsized off Lampedusa.
More than 20 are still missing.

While lives are being lost at sea #OceanViking has to navigate for 4 days to disembark 7 ppl in Ortona leaving the Central Med with even less rescue means.

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