Armed Bandits Stop Migrants Being Rescued in the Mediterranean

An armed bandit hijacked an overcrowded smugglers’ boat and fled with it after the migrants hurled themselves into the water, according to an aid organization that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean.

SOS Mediterranee captured the sad event on camera. According to the group, it happened near Libya’s western coast, some 46 nautical miles north of Zuwara, which is a common starting location for smuggling activities aimed at bringing migrants to Europe. Two rubber dinghies approached the SOS Mediterranee volunteers who were assisting in the transfer of the 93 passengers from the wooden boat onto their rescue vessel, as shown in the video.

The remaining passengers on the migrant boat panicked and dived into the water when a masked bandit jumped aboard them. As the SOS Mediterranee crew rescued individuals from the water, the bandit commandeered the empty boat and drove it away from the scene.

It was unclear if the bandits intended to retrieve the boat for use in other smuggling endeavors.

When Italian maritime officials come across these kinds of vessels, they frequently deliberately sink them for the sake of maritime safety. However, governments are putting less money into rescue efforts, according to Valeria Taurino, general director of SOS Mediterranee, leaving relief organizations to carry out the work in progressively riskier circumstances.

“The lack of rescue vessels left by the states in recent years in the central Mediterranean has generated a reckless increase in armed presence and illegal and dangerous actions for both the fleeing shipwrecked people and aid workers,” she said in a statement.

Italian officials dispute the claim that the presence of humanitarian rescue ships in the Mediterranean just serves to motivate migrants to embark on dangerous journeys. This week, rescue organizations have recorded multiple rescue operations, suggesting that smugglers are capitalizing on the summertime calm waters.

Nevertheless, figures from the interior ministry show that 27,744 migrants have landed in Italy by boat this year, fewer than half of the 72,036 who arrived at the same time last year.

Mitigation control is a top focus for Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government.

To discourage would-be migrants from leaving, it has struck agreements with specific African nations to stop departures, placed restrictions on the operations of humanitarian rescue ships, clamped down on traffickers who get to Italy, and taken other actions.