The sea rescuers of the organization SOS Mediterranee have drawn attention to the high proportion of unaccompanied refugees under the age of 18. „Above all, the proportion of unaccompanied young people on board has increased, from 19 percent in 2016 to 25 percent in 2020,“ said the spokeswoman for SOS Mediterranee Germany, Petra Krischok.
The organization said it saved almost 31,800 people from the Mediterranean in around five years. About 7,150 of them were minors. According to the report, escape is particularly dangerous for young people. Many would be victims of violence or exploitation on their long journey and would not have enough to eat.
The high mortality rate can be explained by the great distance of up to 400 kilometers between the coast of Libya and that of Italy.
State European sea rescue required
The authorities in Italy have registered around 4,270 unaccompanied minors among the boat migrants so far this year, according to statistics published yesterday. In the entire period of the previous year there were only 1,680.
From 2016 to 2018 SOS Mediterranee went to sea with the „Aquarius“, and since July 2019 with the „Ocean Viking“. At the moment, however, almost all ships of the various rescue organizations in the Mediterranean are not in use. The „Ocean Viking“ has been held in Sicily since the end of July, said Krischok: „There is almost no one on site who can save.“
The organization therefore calls for a state European sea rescue and an end to the cooperation with the authorities in Libya. Among other things, the EU supports the training of the coast guard in the civil war country. According to the International Organization for Migration, this year brought around 11,000 boat migrants back to Libya, where they are threatened with violence and exploitation.
