Migrant aid group suspends rescue ship off Libya, cites risk
ROME — Doctors Without Borders said Saturday it is temporarily suspending the activity of its rescue ship due to alleged threats from Libya’s coast guard, which has become more aggressive in patrolling the coasts where human traffickers launch boats crowded with migrants desperate to reach Europe.
The humanitarian group said the rescue co-ordinationcentre operated by Italy’s coast guard had informed it on Friday that the Libyan threats pose a security risk. The group added that Libyan authorities declared their own rescue area, extending into international waters, the same day.
Doctors Without Borders says its medical crew will keep working from a ship operated by another aid group while its own vessel, Prudence, is not involved in migrant rescues.
The Italian government agreed last month to dispatch a naval mission to assist the Libyan coast guard with anti-smuggler patrols. Hundreds of thousands of rescued asylum-seekers, many of them fleeing poverty in Africa, have been brought to safety in Italian ports in recent years.