SAVE the Children’s medical team safely delivered a baby girl on board the charity’s rescue ship in the Mediterranean, The Vos Hestia.
The newborn baby, along with her mother and another heavily pregnant woman who had set out from Libya have now been taken by fast boat to receive care in Malta.
Rob MacGillivray, Save the Children’s search and rescue director, said: “Yesterday we welcomed a newborn baby girl to the world. It was a moment of joy and hope amid the daily desperation that has seen more than 2000 people lose their lives in the sea this year. Her mother was in the midst of a flight for safety. She was forced from home, exploited by smugglers and seemingly abandoned by the world. Mother and baby are now safe after both their lives dangled by a thread.”
MacGillivray said a three-day-old baby and her mother had also been rescued from the sea by Save the Children.
“Imagine the horrors you must be leaving behind to get on a flimsy boat with your new baby in the middle of the night, knowing her life could be snuffed out before it has even begun,” he said.
“After our team had worked flat out for 20 hours side-by-side with other NGOs, the Italian coastguard and navy, all rescue ships in the area were overwhelmed. And still more flimsy boats were sighted in the distance, demonstrating once again that the European response to save people at risk of drowning is inadequate and more capacity is needed.”
Among the largest number of people Save the Children has rescued in a single day were over 50 young children. More than 200 of those pulled from unstable and overcrowded boats are thought to be children travelling alone, without parents or guardians.
The charity said these rescues came during the course of four days when almost 9000 people attempted the crossing from Libya. The Vos Hestia was returning to Italy with more than 1000 on board.
In a fraught day on the sea, many people panicked as rescue boats approached, before jumping into the water despite the risk of drowning.
While the rescue team were attending to one wooden boat, a rubber boat began to deflate, forcing them to rush to it to avert disaster. Three serious medical cases were immediately treated on board. It comes days after EU members committed to “stepping up co-ordination and delivery” of plans that would force children to remain in Libya, where they are vulnerable to violence and abuse.
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