“In these years, the Italian authorities have invested enormous resources in creating barriers to humanitarian action and in policies of death, while doing nothing to stop shipwrecks and open legal and safe routes for people fleeing through the Mediterranean,” says Tommaso Fabbri, former MSF head of mission, who was involved in the case. “Saving lives is not a crime, it is a moral and legal obligation, a fundamental act of humanity which simply must be done.”
“Stop criminalising solidarity!” exclaims Fabbri. “All efforts must go into preventing unacceptable deaths and suffering, and guaranteeing the right to rescue – bringing back humanity and the right to life in the Mediterranean Sea.”
MSF teams first began search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea in 2015, to fill the void left by the closure of the Mare Nostrum rescue operation. Since then, eight different MSF ships have helped to save more than 92,000 lives. Despite the barriers, we have not ceased our search and rescue operations, and to this day our teams are engaged in rescue operations onboard our current vessel, Geo Barents.
“Our aid workers never stopped operating in MSF interventions across the world, just as our ships never stopped saving lives at sea,” says Dr Christou. “This has been our best response to all the accusations.”
Fonte original msf.org
