But with rising numbers of people trying to navigate the "deadly
stretch of water" between Libya and Italy as the weather warms, migrants
were in danger of drowning, MSF said.
A
migrant child smiles as he waits to be transferred from the Migrant
Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) ship MV Phoenix to the Norwegian ship Siem
Pilot off the coast of Libya August 6, 2015.
The medical relief charity Medecins sans Frontieres has relaunched rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, accusing European governments of failing to act to save migrants in peril at sea, it said on Monday.
MSF halted its maritime rescue programme in January, saying it hoped European Union
member states would take up the task of search and rescue of migrants
and refugees attempting the crossing from north Africa to Europe.
But with rising numbers of people trying to navigate the "deadly stretch of water" between Libya and Italy as the weather warms, migrants were in danger of drowning, MSF said.
"The
absence of a global solution to the current refugee crisis, and the
European states' policies of deterrence, as well their refusal to
provide alternatives to the deadly sea crossing, continue to kill
thousands," said Joanne Liu, president of MSF International in a statement.
The
voyage by boat from Libya is far longer and associated with much higher
death rates than between Turkey and Greece, though Libya's lack of
functioning government and lawlessness make it easy for people
traffickers to operate with impunity.
More than
1,200 people have died so far this year trying to reach Europe by sea,
more than half of them on the central Mediterranean route, the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) told the Thomson Reuters
Foundation on Monday.
Last year the IOM said 3,771
people died while trying to reach Europe by sea, making the year the
deadliest on record for those seeking sanctuary from conflict and
poverty.
MSF said its ship Dignity 1, with a
capacity to take 400 people, was involved in its first operation on
Saturday, transferring 308 people to Italy, of whom 23 were children.
The charity said most of the people on board were Eritrean.
MSF
teams have the skills and equipment to provide lifesaving emergency
care as well as to treat common ailments including dehydration, fuel
burns, hypothermia and skin diseases, the charity said.
MSF
previously halted its sea rescue operations in January, with its head
of migration operations saying that search and rescue was not the
charity's primary function.
It said its three
ships rescued more than 20,000 people in over 120 search and rescue
operations during eight months at sea in 2015.
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