Remaining refugees rescued from stranded and 'overloaded' Banksy boat
Updated 22:45, 30-Aug-2020
Aden-Jay Wood
Europe;
All 219 people on board the overloaded Louise Michel vessel have now been rescued. /Reuters

All 219 people on board the overloaded Louise Michel vessel have now been rescued. /Reuters

The remaining 150 people stranded on a rescue boat off the coast of Libya have been rescued. 

The vessel, Louise Michel, named after the French feminist anarchist, issued urgent calls for assistance, saying it was stranded in the Mediterranean and overloaded with migrants. 

49 of the total 219 occupants on board the boat, funded by British artist Banksy, were transferred from the vessel first, according to the Italian coast guard. 

Among those rescued were 32 women and 13 children. 

READ MORE: Stranded Banksy migrant rescue boat gets help in Mediterranean

The other 150 people were later rescued by another vessel, the Sea Watch 4, owned by Sea Watch International, an NGO that rescues migrants crossing the Mediterranean. 

"The #SeaWatch4 has completed the transshipment of about 150 people rescued in recent days by the #LouiseMichel." Sea Watch said on Twitter. 

"We now have 350 people on board who need to disembark in a safe port as soon as possible," It added. 

150 people left stranded on the Louise Michel vessel have been transferred to the Sea Watch 4 rescue boat. /AFP

150 people left stranded on the Louise Michel vessel have been transferred to the Sea Watch 4 rescue boat. /AFP

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What's next for the refugees?

Despite being rescued from the overloaded vessel, there is still nowhere for them to disembark on land, and they are therefore stranded on Sea Watch 4 until further notice.

A commercial vessel called the Maersk Etienne has also been stranded for three weeks after rescuing 27 migrants and refugees on 5 August.

A joint statement issued by the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization of Migration has called for all to be disembarked safely. 

"The humanitarian imperative of saving lives should not be penalized or stigmatized, especially in the absence of dedicated state-led efforts." The statement said.

They also called for EU member states to provide more support to countries at the forefront of receiving sea arrivals in the Mediterranean.