Open Arms: No Medical Emergency

Update on the status of the Spanish NGO ship Open Arms, which has been sitting off the coast of Lampedusa demanding entry into the Italian port.

Even though the Spanish government has offered to take them in, the NGO refuses saying that Spain is too far and after 17 days with the migrants at sea, they have reached the point where health issues have become critical.

A total of 27 migrants claiming to be minors were taken off the boat and examined by doctors. That determined that there was no health issue (and that most of them were not really minors.) Meanwhile an Italian judge ordered authorities to inspect the ship for health risks. They did so and determined that there was no sanitary-hygienic emergency on board the ship as claimed by the NGO.

The below article from Giornale di Sicilia is translated by Fousesquawk.


https://gds.it/articoli/cronaca/2019/08/18/open-arms-la-procura-valuta-la-relazione-dei-medici-sulle-condizioni-dei-migranti-nessuna-emergenza-935bb71f-55e3-46e3-8306-4fa025f72739/

Open Arms, inspection on board: "No emergency". Migrants jump into the sea

18 August 2019

According to what we learn from the inspection on the Open Arms, ordered by the Public Prosecutor of Agrigento, no particular critical health and hygiene issues have emerged to trigger the emergency. The inspection was carried out yesterday to check the hygienic-sanitary conditions in the ship where there are 107 shipwrecked people. The migrants are piled on the deck of the boat , they sleep on the floor without any mattress, they cover themselves with sheets and tablecloths, and according to the NGO they are psychologically exhausted.

According to the report of the doctors of Cismo, there would be cases of scabies but at the moment, there are no institutional confirmations in this regard. It is certain, however, that no evacuation has yet been arranged. For 107 migrants, those left on the ship, it is the 17th day on board, with the Open Arms still at the end of Lampedusa, facing Cala Francese.

Obviously the controversy continues. "Imaginary patients, imaginary minors, now imaginary health emergencies ... The Open Arms NGO and its accomplices are reaching the height of the ridiculous, the Italians are good but not stupid". This was written by the Minister of Interior, Matteo Salvini, on Facebook.

"Day 17. Miserable. Miserable are those who use 107 human beings "without names" and volunteers as hostages to make xenophobic and racist propaganda. All those who permit this and make jokes of their pain are accomplices," says the NGO on Twitter.

Nineteen minors of the 27 taken off the Open Arms will be transferred to Porto Empedocle by ferry. The other 8, who have admitted being adults after the evacuation, will remain at the "hotspot" of the island subject to medical checks also to assess their real age.

We can no longer contain the desperation. We can no longer explain. There are no words. You are cowards. Hashtag a secure port immediately". That is what the Spanish NGO, Open Arms,(says) on Twitter, posting a video of 4 migrants who tried to reach Lampedusa by swimming, after throwing themselves in the water wearing life jackets. Three rescuers go after them and after having reached them, take them back on board the boat.