On Tuesday, volunteer lifeguards from the Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms successfully rescued 54 migrants who were stranded on a rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea near the Italian island of Lampedusa, as reported by a Reuters witness. The majority of those rescued were Syrian nationals, according to the group. They were subsequently transported to Lampedusa by the Italian Coast Guard.
The central Mediterranean route is considered one of the most perilous for refugees attempting to seek asylum in Europe. Data from the United Nations' refugee agency indicates that over 3,100 people perished or went missing last year while trying to cross the sea to Europe. In the past four days, Open Arms has rescued a total of 383 individuals.
On Monday, the charity's search-and-rescue vessel, Astral, aided 110 people who were packed into an overcrowded wooden barge, including six women, four children, two elderly men, and a person with disabilities. Esther Camps, the mission's coordinator on board the Astral, noted an increase in the use of precarious iron boats, possibly hand-welded in Tunisia, over the past year.
Camps speculated that this trend might be due to Tunisia's adoption of a stringent anti-immigration policy, which has led many sub-Saharan African migrants to depart the country. A Reuters photograph depicted a rusted iron vessel that seemed to be split into two halves connected by hinges. Camps mentioned that this was the first encounter with such a ship type and initially believed it had broken apart and was about to sink.
"Apparently, it wasn't broken but is a new type of construction. We suspect it's because it's easier to transport undetected both on land and at sea," she added.
