The "Ocean Viking", the vessel of the NGO "SOS Méditerranée", has completed the largest operation in its history, picking up more than 600 migrants on 15 separate occasions in the space of 48 hours. Most of the operations took place off Tunisia.
According to the NGO, among the migrants were 15 children, 146 unaccompanied minors and 462 adults. The main countries of origin of the migrants are Sudan, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Benin and Bangladesh. The "Ocean Viking" temporarily docked in Lampedusa, Italy, later it will pass to Civitavecchia, which has been designated (by the Italian authorities) as a Place of Safety for the disembarkation of the remaining survivors.
The Greek coast guard also rescued dozens of migrants, on two separate occasions in Rhodes and Pylos.
According to United Nations data, in the first 7 months of 2023, 119.980 migrants arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean, while 2078 died or are missing.
Source: Euronews