For ten days, 43 refugees have been aboard the rescue vessel „Sea-Watch 3“ and wait in international waters near Lampedusa for a landing port. The German NGO Sea-Watch criticized that people were considered „political hostages“.
The crew reported on Twitter about the difficult situation on board. „We have patients with uncontrollable pain due to torture,“ said a doctor on board. Ten people who needed medical care had landed on Lampedusa a week ago.
Mayor for admission of the refugees
An open letter with the signatures of city leaders from all over Germany, who agreed to accept the people aboard the „Sea-Watch 3“, has since been sent to the German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. The mayors of Berlin, Kiel, Freiburg, Potsdam, Rottenburg am Neckar and Rostock joined this initiative.
„We demand a fast, humane and solidary admission policy of Germany in view of the emergency in the Mediterranean. It is unworthy of Europe to arrest people in distress for days on a ship, „the Mayors write.
Meanwhile, Italy is putting pressure on the Netherlands to take in the refugees. The „Sea-Watch 3“ is with Dutch flag in the Mediterranean on the way. It is therefore the duty of the Netherlands to accept the people, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini argued. For more than a year he has been working for a policy of „closed ports“ for private rescue vessels.
