The crew on board the new ship Oyvon operated by medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) rescued 27 migrants on board a boat in distress in the night between November 16 and 17. The group included minors and women.
The migrants were later disembarked on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa on Monday morning (November 17).
The medical humanitarian NGO, Doctors without Borders (MSF) said all those rescued were "in a state of shock."
The crew on board the Oyvon reported that those on board the migrant boat had been "in extremely unsafe conditions on an unseaworthy dinghy. They were all in a state of shock, they repeatedly told our operators that they would have died if they had not arrived in time."
Migrants rescued reportedly came originally from The Gambia, Sudan and Senegal and said they had departed from Zawiya in Libya. They included two minors and seven women.
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Second operation in two days carried out by MSF-run ship
The operation during the night of November 17 was the second carried out by the crew of the Oyvon, the new ship with which Doctors Without Borders has resumed search and rescue missions in the central Mediterranean after a hiatus of nearly a year.
Previously, on November 15, the boat rescued another group of 41 people with the support of the search and rescue vessel Louise Michel.
Three women and 14 minors were among the passengers, including nine who were traveling without an adult. They were also taken to Lampedusa.
MSF resumed rescued operations in the central Mediterranean a few days ago with the Oyvon ship that departed from the port of Licata, in Sicily.
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Commitment to rescue
The NGO interrupted rescue operations nearly a year ago with the Geo Barents vessel, which was active from May 2021 until December 2024. In September 2024, the vessel was seized by authorities for 60 days over alleged violations of security rules during rescue missions.
"As a medical-humanitarian organization, our presence in the Mediterranean and the commitment to support people in movement are essential," said MSF Head of Mission Juan Matias Gil.
"We are resuming operations because we have the duty to rescue those in difficulty at sea -- people who are often forced to depart on unsafe boats after experiencing deplorable and inhuman conditions and enduring detention, abuse and extortions in Libya."
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