This is the second day of Pope Francis’ visit to Marseille. This Friday, September 22, the sovereign pontiff paid tribute to the shipwrecked migrants. He notably denounced the “ fanaticism of indifference » and called to save people who were in danger of drowning. Earlier today, the rescue NGO SOS Méditerranée once again sounded the alarm on the situation in this busy migratory corridor where there have been a large number of crossings since the start of the year.
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With our correspondent in Marseille, Matthew Limongi
Intimidation, erratic communication with certain states, administrative pressure, Sophie Beau, co-founder of SOS Méditerranée, denounces the increasingly numerous obstacles to rescue operations: “ There is a lack of rescue coordination contrary to what should be put in place according to international maritime law by coastal States, we are not given the coordinates of boats in distress. We are out there blind somewhere looking for boats.” “ We are unable to optimize our rescue capacity », she adds. In 2023, 2,000 people will die trying to cross the Mediterranean.
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François Thomas, president of the NGO, calls for action from the European Union: “ If Europe does not do something, our humanity will sink. We must facilitate the disembarkation of survivors. We must also set up a European rescue fleet. Europe has the means to do it. It is absolutely necessary that the central Mediterranean be considered as a true humanitarian area. All this is happening at the gates of Europe.”
Call for European leaders to heed the Pope’s message
So, SOS Méditerranée calls on European leaders to listen to the Pope’s message on migration. The co-founder of SOS Méditerranée, Sophie Beau, recognizes that “ since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has never ceased to recall the indifference that reigns, to call for action, for help ” And ” to fraternity. “In April 2021, we were called to rescue a boat. We were told there were around 130 people on board this boat. We arrived in front of a sea of corpses, says the humanitarian. We made a press release. The media did not pick it up and the only person who denounced this time of shame was the Pope. He was the only one who spoke that day about the 130 deaths at sea.”
For Sophie Beau, this is a strong gesture on the part of the head of the Catholic Church. “ I find that we are in a deafening silence from our political leaders, but also from our elites in fact somewhere. If SOS Méditerranée is still here today, after 7 years, it is really thanks to this support from civil society because otherwise, we would not be here today. But nevertheless, we are very lacking in spokespeople. We can hope that the Pope’s voice carries much further than ours »she says.