MSF vessel rescues migrants in Mediterranean

(23 Jun 2016) More than 130 migrants were rescued from choppy waters in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday after they were found floating off the coast of Libya during a joint rescue operation by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) and SOS Mediterranee (SOS Mediterranean).
Packed into an overcrowded inflatable raft, the desperate group were dragged aboard the 'Aquarius' ship and given medical treatment.
38-year-old Liberian migrant Musa Fafani was one of the 132 migrants making the perilous journey.
He said he'd made the trip after he lost his family during the Ebola crisis.
The rescue operations were part of efforts that on Thursday alone saw some 4,000 migrants saved, according to the Italian coast guard.
The Italian navy said a new wave of migrant smugglers' boats that set out from Libyan shores and needed rescuing includes 31 rubber dinghies.
A navy statement says five of its boats helped in the rescue of 14 of the dinghies, for a total of 1,800 men, women and children saved.
Migrants aboard the other dinghies were rescued by vessels from the Italian coast guard, a European anti-smuggling naval deployment and ships operated by private aid organisations.
Authorities say Libya-based smugglers concentrated the departures of boats crowded with migrants in a single day because rough seas earlier in the week had prevented launching the unseaworthy fleet.


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