Sea-Watch said so far this year, 379 people trying to reach Europe from Libya via the Mediterranean have died or gone missing, 111 of them in August alone In this situation, the NGOs said, the “absurd attempt” by Italy’s government to block all civilian rescue ships appears “even more serious” ROME: Four European NGOs have urged Italy’s government to stop blocking their rescue ships in the Mediterranean. In a joint statement, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Sea-Watch, Open Arms and Mediterranea also urged the government to reactivate an EU-wide mechanism to protect life at sea along the central Mediterranean migration route. The Mediterranean continues to be “one of the largest cemeteries in the world,” the NGOs said, adding that despite expressions of concern by the Italian and European governments about the loss of life, the presence of Italian and European military ships off Libya’s coast is not helping to reduce the number of deaths at sea. “Embarrassing” attempts have been made — contrary to the views of the UN and evidence collected by human rights groups such as Amnesty International — to pass off the Libyan Coast Guard as a legitimate authority able to rescue migrants, the NGOs said. “As we all know, the Libyan Coast Guard instead captures and forcibly returns all those attempting to flee slavery, torture, violence and exploitation back to Libyan detention centers,” the statement said. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in the first eight months of this year 19,334 people reached Italy via the Mediterranean, an increase of 287 percent compared to the same period in 2019, when 5,000 people had arrived through the same route. Most of the migrants left from Tunisia, but many also from Libya. Sea-Watch said so far this year, 379 people trying to reach Europe from Libya via the Mediterranean have died or gone missing, 111 of them in August alone. In this situation, the NGOs said, the “absurd attempt” by Italy’s government to block all civilian rescue ships appears “even more serious.” They urged the government to abide by its obligations under international conventions to which Italy is a signatory and to not abandon people at sea. “Technical and bureaucratic excuses were being used to do this in the past months,” they said. The NGOs have requested a formal meeting with the government and urged its formal recognition of the value and obligation to conduct rescues of migrants at sea, an end to the blocking of ships and aircraft of EU civil society organizations, immediate assistance and assigning of a safe port within 24 hours for all vessels operating at sea, and clear health measures that are the same for all.