Doctors Without Borders, worried about the 103 minors on board the Ocean Viking

Doctors Without Borders has expressed concern about the situation of the 103 children traveling on the Ocean Viking ship, with 356 migrants rescued in Mediterranean waters and waiting for a safe harbor for their days off the coast of Malta and Italy for eight days landing.

In statements to Efe, the head of External Relations of Doctors Without Borders, Raquel González, explained that "in the current state of the rescued there is currently no medical emergency that requires an urgent evacuation", but has warned about the situation of minors traveling on the ship, especially of the 92 children who are alone, without a reference adult.

Specifically, he has detailed that of the 356 migrants rescued by the humanitarian ship in four different operations between August 9 and 12, 4 are women, 103 children under 18 years of age - 92 of whom are alone - and the total number of children 14 are between 13 and 15 years old and 3 children under 5 years old.

"All the rescued people were exposed to high temperatures during the crossing and remained in the boat for two or three days without water and without food," said the head of Doctors Without Borders, who recalled that they came from Libya and "have lived experiences horrible, "as you have been able to hear from their testimonies.

Like that of a young man, who was locked in an immigrant center in Libya with shackles and who lived with terrible anguish the bombings that occurred on that center without being able to escape.

"The situation in Libya is Dantesque," denounced Gonzalez, who has regretted that the EU has delegated in that country since mid-2018 the management of the coordination of rescues, which before Italy did.

Since that date, "the collaboration has disappeared, political disputes are commonplace and NGOs that carry out rescues have been criminalized," said the head of the NGO.

Before the response of Libya that the rescued returned, the NGO refused. "It's a red line for Doctors Without Borders because Libya is not a safe country."

"On Tuesday, August 13, in view of that response, we requested the safest nearby countries, Italy and Malta, permission to disembark," so the ship remains in international waters in northwestern Malta, but at an equidistant distance with Italy .

The rescued, of 12 nationalities although the majority Sudanese, went in four precarious rubber boats. On Friday 9, 85 migrants were rescued, the next day another 85, on Sunday 81 people and last Monday at 105.

The activist has denounced that until the middle of last year, rescue ships took about two days to reach the safe port to disembark and another two to return to the rescue zone; Now the wait is weeks, as we also see with the Open Arms.

"They are being encouraged that there may be more shipwrecks even if we don't see them; more than 2,500 rescued people have since suffered blocking situations totaling 200 days," he added.

Doctors Without Borders claims to the Spanish Government and the EU "a safe and permanent landing system so that there are no permanent blockages and migrants are treated with humanity."

"Solutions must be arbitrated, human and that respect the right to save lives because no one should be forced to choose between saving life or dying in the Mediterranean," he concluded.