Migrants, Ocean Viking declares a state of emergency. In the next few hours, the Interior Ministry will assign a port to guarantee safe health checks

Six suicide attempts in 24 hours, the last morning when a boy attempted to hang himself. It is an emergency on board the Ocean Viking, the ship of the French NGO Sos Mediterranée which has 180 migrants on board rescued in recent days in three separate rescue operations. The commander declared the state of emergency: “This affects the safety of the people on board and the crew”. In the next few hours the Interior Ministry will assign a port, probably where there is the availability of a hotspot in which to host the migrants who will have to undergo all the health procedures for the Covid emergency. There is indeed the concern that, as already happened in Sicily with the last two NGOs, there may be positives on board. Meanwhile, the ship is on stand-by sixteen miles from the Sicilian coast and the arrival on board of a psychologist has been announced.

Seven times the ship asked the Italian and Maltese authorities for a port of landing but collected only waste. And no response came even to the request for immediate medical evacuation of 44 people who – according to the crew – “are in a state of acute mental discomfort, threatening self-injurious and violent acts, expressing suicidal intent”.

The weather conditions are also worsening. “Many of the survivors show signs of extreme stress and depression. The strong agitation on board has led some of the survivors to clash. There have been threats of violence against the rescued people and the crew,” the NGO’s heartfelt appeal that communicated the declaration of emergency to the Italian authorities.

The situation therefore seems close to being out of control. Until now, unlike what has been done in recent days with the Ionian sea (twice) and with the German Sea Watch that were made to land in Sicily in a very short time, the Interior Ministry did not consider assigning the port of landing to Ocean Viking.

The Covid emergency has also increased concerns. As happened for migrants who landed from Sea Watch several positive migrants have also been found on the Ionian Sea and the absence of dedicated structures to isolate migrants is provoking controversy among Sicilian administrators. In recent weeks, the Interior Ministry has hired a ship, managed by the Red Cross, to isolate the immigrants who disembark but when (as in these days) the ship is already occupied by groups with the quarantine in progress, it is necessary to find new structures for the others who disembark.

The 43 landings with the Ionian Sea were conducted in a reception center in Noto, a town among the most renowned tourist destinations in Sicily that now fears health and image repercussions. For this the governor Nello Musumeci asked the Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese to send other ships where to host the migrants without them touching the Sicilian soil. But his request so far has not been successful. And the concern is that, given the spread of the epidemic in Libya, there may be positives even among the 180 aboard Ocean Viking where, however, the health protocols are applied rigorously.

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