Banksy-Funded Refugee Rescue Boat Calls for Emergency Help

"Hello Pia, I've read about your story in the papers. You sound like a badass," Banksy wrote.

"I am an artist from the UK and I've made some work about the migrant crisis, obviously I can't keep the money. Could you use it to buy a new boat or something? Please let me know. Well done. Banksy."

Klemp, who initially thought it was a joke, told the paper she believed she was chosen because of her political stance, The Guardian said.

"I don't see sea rescue as a humanitarian action, but as part of an anti-fascist fight," she told the paper.

Read also: UK Presses France to Control Migrant Crossings via English Channel

The crew with diverse backgrounds "all identify as anti-racist and anti-fascist activists advocating for radical political change," The Guardian said.

Incognito

A spokesman for Burriana's port confirmed that the Louise Michel docked there on June 23 and left on August 18.

"During this time, they have been repairing and preparing the boat but they did it by themselves, they did not use the port services", he told AFP.

About Banksy, "if he has been here, he came incognito," the official said.

The Louise Michel left Burriana on August 18 "under the strictest secrecy", The Guardian reported.

Early this month, humanitarian organizations said they would resume migrant rescues in the Mediterranean Sea, where none have operated since the Ocean Viking docked in Italy in early July.

Read also: Migrant Rescues in the Mediterranean Sea to Resume in August

Before the Ocean Viking's last mission, rescue operations in the Mediterranean had been suspended for months due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

More than 100,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year from North Africa with more than 1,200 dying in the attempt, according to the International Organization for Migration. 

(Writer: Jan Hennop and Hervé Bar) 

Source: http://u.afp.com/3LMr