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Rescue at Sea: Eritrean Refugees Rescued Recently – July 12, 2016 – In Pictures ( MOAS)

Rescue at Sea: ‘It Looked Like They Were Sleeping’ When the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, a Malta-based NGO, rescued 352 Eritreans stranded in Libyan waters, four of their fellow passengers didn't make it to safety. Here,

Rescue at Sea: ‘It Looked Like They Were Sleeping’

When the Migrant Offshore Aid Station, a Malta-based NGO, rescued 352 Eritreans stranded in Libyan waters, four of their fellow passengers didn’t make it to safety. Here, members of the rescue team share images from the dramatic rescue and its aftermath.

WRITTEN BYJulie Williams PUBLISHED ONJul. 13, 2016 READ TIMEApprox. 4 minutes
Mw responder 7 12 16 1640 edit
A couple comfort each other after being rescued. Despite a brutal military dictatorship that has fueled significant outflows of civilians, Eritreans are often deemed economic migrants. MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks

A PHOTOGRAPHER WHO was one of the first to make the grim discovery of four dead Eritreans in the hold of a vessel from which hundreds of migrants were rescued on July 12 said he thought the young men were sleeping at first.

“I saw this young man who was visibly unconscious, it looked as if he was sleeping on his friend’s shoulder,” said Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) photographer Mathieu Willcocks.

A man gasps for breath and is eventually revived. But four of his co-passengers did not make it. Human rights organizations equate the conditions prompting flight of Eritrean civilians with "slavery." (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks).

A man gasps for breath and is eventually revived. But four of his co-passengers did not make it. Human rights organizations equate the conditions prompting flight of Eritrean civilians with “slavery.” (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks).

Two other men were found in critical condition. One was given CPR by a search-and-rescue crew member and an emergency doctor on board and was stabilized enough to be airlifted. The other migrant was stabilized by emergency staff and is still on the Responder.

The bodies were found in three separate compartments of the small wooden vessel from which 352 migrants were rescued early on July 12, some 17 miles (27km) off the Libyan coast by Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) workers.

The rescued included 150 women and 20 children, the majority being Eritrean.

“When we started retrieving people from below deck, we didn’t know if they were sleeping, unconscious or dead. They were packed so tight in the hold,” said MOAS rescuer Nick, who was the first to jump on to the boat.

The MOAS vessel Responder spotted the heavily overcrowded wooden boat on their radar at 3:30 a.m. At 4:30 a.m, the crew was in sight of the boat but it was still pitch dark.

The MOAS Responder approaches the boatful of people. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

The MOAS Responder approaches the boatful of people. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

At 5 a.m. a fast rescue launch was lowered into the water and the recovery operation began.

“It was very emotional for everyone when the bodies were brought on board and carried into the morgue,” said Willcocks.

Rescued men grieve the loss of their friends' lives. Numerous reports have cited torture, mass surveillance and indefinite military conscription of civilians by the Eritrean government. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

Rescued men grieve the loss of their friends’ lives. Numerous reports have cited torture, mass surveillance and indefinite military conscription of civilians by the Eritrean government. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

Tuesday’s deaths are not a new phenomenon. A total of 2,942 migrants have died in the Mediterranean in 2016 alone, as of July 11, 2016.

So far, 2,521 migrants have died along the Central Mediterranean route as of July 10, 2016, making up approximately 85 percent of all deaths in the region.

Since the revolution, Libyan smugglers have been taking increasing risks with the lives of migrants and asylum seekers, putting huge numbers of people in unseaworthy boats.

A rescued man cries out in both relief and sadness.Over 200,000 asylum seekers of different nationalities have reached Italian shores this year. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

A rescued man cries out in both relief and sadness.Over 200,000 asylum seekers of different nationalities have reached Italian shores this year. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

Typically, there is a price differential that determines whether a migrant stays on the deck of the vessel or in the hold. The ones in the hold are the ones who can afford to pay the least. Current prices on the coast of Tripolitania stand at between $250 and $500 (1,000–2,000 Libyan Dinar) per person.

Those who are put in the hold are cramped in poorly ventilated chambers where the engine fumes further poison the air. Just under a year ago, 52 bodies were pulled from the hold of a wooden boat some 30 miles north of Libya.

One of the 352 survivors grieves the death of his friend. One in 50 Eritreans sought asylum in Europe since 2012. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

One of the 352 survivors grieves the death of his friend. One in 50 Eritreans sought asylum in Europe since 2012. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

Moreover, many of the people who died in what is still considered to be the worst migrant disaster in the Mediterranean on April 18, 2015, went down with the vessel, trapped in the hold.

Towards the end of June, the Italian Navy recovered the vessel at the end of a year-long operation in which specialized teams identified and brought to the surface the 65ft (20m) wreck from a depth of about 1,230ft (375m), 85 nautical miles northeast of the Libyan coast.

Two of the rescued men are overwhelmed with emotion. The government of Eritrea has imposed emergency rule since 1998, when it fought a war against Ethiopia. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

Two of the rescued men are overwhelmed with emotion. The government of Eritrea has imposed emergency rule since 1998, when it fought a war against Ethiopia. (MOAS/Mathieu Willcocks)

It is estimated that there were between 250 and 300 bodies inside the wreck. A forensics team in Italy is currently carrying out an investigation on the bodies. The exact number of people who perished may never be known. It is known that only 28 people made it out alive and that, not counting the ones that are currently being examined by Italian investigators,169 bodies were recovered,

A version of this story was originally published by the Migrant Report. The images were contributed by MOAS from their latest rescue operation. Both have been republished with permission.

aseye.asena@gmail.com

Review overview
23 COMMENTS
  • k.tewolde July 23, 2016

    Our birthplace has been sick for awhile and the parents and children of the nation refused medical attention,like Bob Dylan quipped in his song,’the three men that I love the most,the father, child and the holy ghost left town and headed to the coast’,this is the time to question ‘oh Father have you forsaken us?’ I am ashamed,I feel guilty,so should every Eritrean around the world whether you live in a ghetto or a gated community,a professional or a bum,rich or poor,it is a colossal epic national failure.All the sacrifice that was paid is not going in vain,no! I don’t think so.

  • New Hope Eritrea ? July 23, 2016

    እንታይ እሞ ክብል የብለይን ትብዓት
    ቀደም ወዲኤዮ ናይ ሓዘነይ ንብዓት
    ግብጺ ዝግዓተትለይ ጂሃዳዊ ግዓት
    ሩባ ኣባይ ክትውንን ዝምሃዘቶ ጽዓት
    ሙዳዳ ዘኾሰቶ ክትፈጥረለይ ጥፍኣት
    ናብ ደቀይ ሓሊፉ ገድሊ ዝፈጠሮ መዓት
    ሱቕ ኢለ እርኢ ህዝበይ ማይ ክውሓጥ
    ኣይሞትካን ኣይትበሉኒ ግነዙኒ ብስርዓት

    • Mokie July 23, 2016

      “ግብጺ ዝግዓተትለይ ጂሃዳዊ ግዓት
      ሩባ ኣባይ ክትውንን ዝምሃዘቶ ጽዓት”

      New Hope Eritrea ? aka Cow[ard] Face

      Your hate of Eritrea has no limit. No body cares what you think and say.
      You are living in the past, when Wube used to be the King.

      • new hope eritrea ? July 24, 2016

        who is cow face ?

        • AHMED SALEH July 24, 2016

          Following your posts in this page you can’t hide anymore . Some languages and ideas detect the commentator identity.
          So don’t fool yourself to say who is cow face .

  • Hazo July 23, 2016

    መቸም ከም ኤርትራን ኤርትራውያንን መከራን ሕሰምን ውርደትን ዝረኸበ ህዝቢ የሎን። ኤርትራ ናይ ኣፍሪቃ ሰሜን ኮርያ ጥራይ ዘይኮነት፣ ናይ ኣፍሪቃ ፋብሪካ ስደተኛታት እያ ውን። ኤርትራ ሸኽሚ ናይ ሕማቕ ወረን ጠቀርን ናይ ኣፍሪቃ እያ። ቀደም ቀደም፣ ገለ ዓያሹ ውን ሎሚ ዝደግምዎ፤ ኣፍሪቃውያን ኣይኮናን፤ ዓረብ ኢና፣ ይበሃል ከምዘይነበረ።
    ኣየ ኤርትራውያን መጕሃይቲ፣ ኣብ ባሕሪ ብኣማኢት እንዳሃለቅኩም፣ ህግደፍ ብሽም ገድሊ ሓሓኒቑ ኣብ ጉድጉዋድ እንዳወተፈኩም፣ ሳሕሳሕ ዓረብ ንወድኹም ጓልኩም ተጻዊቱ፣ ኩሊትኩም መዝሒቑ ንዓቢደነት ዓረብ እንዳሸጠኩም፤ ውርደትን ሕፍረትን ኣፍሪቃ ኴንኩም ከለኹም፣ ኣብ ክንዲ ከም ወራዙት ብሕፍረት እትሕብኡ፤ ኤርትራውያን ኣይኮኑን ዓጋመ እዮም፤ ኣሜሪካን ጽዮናውያንን ዘርዮምና እናበልኩም ትውሽልኹ። በሉ ስእሊ ኣይሕሱን እዩ ረኣይዎ።

    • Mokie July 23, 2016

      “ሕሳሕ ዓረብ ንወድኹም ጓልኩም ተጻዊቱ፣ ኩሊትኩም መዝሒቑ ንዓቢደነት ዓረብ እንዳሸጠኩም፤ ውርደትን ሕፍረትን ኣፍሪቃ ኴንኩም ከለኹም፣ ኣብ ክንዲ ከም ወራዙት ብሕፍረት እትሕብኡ፤ ኤርትራውያን ኣይኮኑን ዓጋመ እዮም፤ ኣሜሪካን ጽዮናውያንን ዘርዮምና እናበልኩም ትውሽልኹ። ”

      Hazo aka Teclay

      Here is a recent news from Utah (USA), about resettlement of Eritrean refugees there.
      About 85% of refugees who left Tigray (as Eritrean refugees) were actually Tigreyans.
      Some Eritrean families who went there visit them and welcome their people in their adopted country, were shocked to find out that there were only a few families from Eritrea. Overwhelming majority of the new arrivals where Tigreyans posing as Eritrean refugees.

      What a shame !!!

  • hp July 24, 2016

    በቃ መስደምም ኢዩ ካን ማዕረ ኢዚ ኩሉ
    ኣየዘመን ! በቲ ሓደ ቀለብቲ ዓሳ፡ብኻልእ
    መሰወዲ ጉሓላሉ፡ብዝተረፈ መስሓቅ በዓል
    ኢቶም ንሕና ንሱ በሃልቲ።
    ኢንተ ዘይትንወኒ መን መጽደፈኒ? ኢቲ ሑቶ
    ሙሉስ ኢዩ።ኢቲ ዘይተመለስ ግን ስለምንታይ
    ኢዚ ኹሉ? ማይ ስትያ ትጠርጥ መዓኮር ጣቋ
    ይብላን።

  • Te'azabi July 24, 2016

    New Hope Eritrea, Hazo, the novel teacher, realistic Eritrean Save, young Eritreans, assawa etc,

    Go to Ethiopia and search for your TorSerawit father if he was not killed by Eritrean fighters. This is the only option you have because your continuous abuse to our pride and dignity will not change anything.

    • wedi Toronto July 24, 2016

      Te’azabi aka Mokie, Sol, Mohammed, Lemlem, WoBawzan, Nahom, ertra n Arebawyan………….etc
      Did the brave Torserawit kill your taliban father while he was on his evil moslem mission and you still have nightmares about Torserawit? The new brave children of Torserawit the EDF will be after your kind of moslem thugs and talibans as well.
      Why do you get irritated when people are expressing their God given free views and opinions? You are clearly so disturbed, messed up and restless loser individual that needs urgent help in the head as you are getting worse and desperate by the day.

      • AHMED SALEH July 24, 2016

        Retarded wedi Toronto
        Your sick mind of religious hatred is killing inside of you . The brave
        Torserawit that used to kill and destroy villages had common ground
        with you and the connection seems you are the product of Ethiopian
        military families of the past who enjoyed life at victimized peasant
        societies expense .
        Blaming Moslems want help your guilty consciousness but to face the
        truth and admit wrongs made does free your spirit . It is up to you either to get clean or stay evil TEREGHAM FITRET .

    • Asmerom. July 24, 2016

      Te’azabi
      You are the one who needs to go to Afghanistan or Sudan/Somalia to find your taliban father if he was not killed by American drones. This is the only option you have to remedy your sickness and hatred towards normal soldiers who were doing their jobs in order to support their families. And what do you know about pride and dignity and you sadly sound without any.

    • Tekeste July 24, 2016

      Te’Azabi, you are not observing well so get real and grow up fast.
      In compareson to your backward, corrupted and criminal ELF the Torserawit would be angels.
      Why can’t you let bygones be bygones and move on instead of being stuck/lost in the past?
      With your old type full of hatred and bitterness no wonder Eritrea can’t move forward for better future and prosperity.

  • Teclay July 24, 2016

    ሓቂ ኣበይ ኣሎኺ ክደልየኪ?

    ዎየ! ዎየ! ዎየ! ባርያ ግብጺ ኮይነ ን60ዓመታት፣ሕጂ ተረዲኡኒ ዘይሕለፍኵዎ ዕብዳን።
    ዎየ! ዎየ! ዎየ !ከምዘይተለመንኩ ፣ትኸሎ ጋራዥካ ኣብ ኣዲስ ፣ሕረስ ኣብ ሸሸመኔ፣ንገድ ኣብ ድሬዳዋ።
    ዎየ !ዎየ! ዎየ! ከምዘይተወስኩ የኣስመራ ልጅ ሸጋ ።
    ዎየ! ዎየ !ዎየ !ባዕልኻ ምራሕ እንተተበሃልኩ ። ኖ ኢለ ባርነት ዓረብ ድኣ መረጽኩ፣
    ዎየ !ዎየ! ዎየ! ሙሁራት ኣሚነ ኣብ መዓት ኣትየ ።ኣየ ብዓል ፕሮፈሰር ፣ዶተረ

    • Tekeste July 24, 2016

      Bravo brother Teclay, you’ve said it beautifully. “mikerew mikerew embi kale mekera yimikerew”.
      Eritreans should ponder to come up with ideas and solutions to tackle this inhuman tragedies.
      I sometimes question myself if it is normal for any society to continue acting and sleeping normal
      while sons and daughters are being raped, tortured and skinned for their organs dying in the seas.
      Since when have Eritreans become insensitive to each others pains? It might require a comprehensive research as to how Eritrean moral and patriotic values evolved over the years.

  • Sisay July 24, 2016

    There is more shames and miseries to come for Eritrea. Eritreans deserve it all as we’ve been living a false artificial life claiming and acting like the super heroes of this world and unfortunately we’ll continue to be governed by monsters ghedli because we’ve been believing and worshiping evil ghedli and its monster devils leaders.

  • new hope eritrea ? July 24, 2016

    Teazabi ,

    My father was not Tor serawit or Tegadalai shifta..As he was highly educated kenisha and Hamasen he was given a position in municipality Asmara (mazegaja bet) ,Only the poor and uneducated join Tegadelti to rob peasants of their children dignity and food and I abhor what the Tor serawit did to our metaHit people ,of course provoked by jihadawit Jebha that was way better and disciplined bandit ,did not need dimu dimu alcohol for courage ,women bandits were not date raped but had respect and better gu8errilla fighter that even threatened Israel by joinning the PLO commando in attacking the Jewish state.Nevertheless as the Amharic saying goes “yezinjero qonjo min yimerariTu”..You can not judge which monkey is prettier.
    So ,kenisha (protestants) do not become Tor serawit ,day labourers,factory workers ,Management like my father.

    Good day ,do not forget to charge cab fare (by the way sice kenishas are honest they do not become cab drivers ,ok. maybe in America
    እምባሕ ጥራይ በል ወዲ ኤረ
    ምሕሳብ ነምሓሩን ተጋሩን ግደፈሎም ርእስኻ ከየሕምመካ

  • new hope eritrea ? July 24, 2016

    nb…… By the way my father was director of marketing ,as my mother was from seraye even our carpet was made from Taff..you ask what is Taff..It is iron loaded grain found in Seraye ,gojam ,shiraro and the Ethiopian Awash market in San diego.It is different from lentils and vegetable donkey (ሓምሊ ኣድጊ)

  • wedi Toronto July 24, 2016

    Life can not be that bad for these people to go on suicide journys in the seas and deserts all the time?
    Where is the Eritrean heroism if people keep running away instead of fighting back for their country & family?

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