ROME - Libya's coast guard has left a woman and child to die on an inflatable raft in difficulty, the group Proactiva Open Arms said on Tuesday, publishing a photo of the two bodies in the sea on Twitter amongst the remains of a boat. 

 “The Libyan coastal guards said that they have intercepted a boat with 158 on board and offered medical and humanitarian assistance,” said the founder of the charity, Oscar Camps, “but they have not admitted to leaving two women and a baby on board whilst the boat sunk because they did not want to get on the surveillance vessels.”

 In the photos you can see the bodies of one woman and one child, now lifeless and amongst what remains of the dingy. “When we arrived,” Camps continued, “we found one woman still clinging onto life, but unfortunately we could not do anything for the other woman and child.”

 According to Camps the two probably died a few hours before the charity boat arrived in the area.

 On board the vessel there was also the deputy Leu Erasmo Palazzotto. “Matteo Salvini,” he wrote on Twitter, publishing a photo of the woman and of the child, “this is what the Libyan coastal guard do when they carry out a humanitarian rescue. Open Arms have saved the only survivor whilst your Libyan friends have killed a woman and baby. At least today have the decency and respect to be silent and open the ports.”

 Open Arms continued to attack the Italian Interior Minister, saying “Every death is the direct consequence of that politician. We denounce the lack of assistance in international waters and the abandonment of a living person and the corpse of a baby and woman from the Libyan coastal guard, a tragedy permitted by Italy.”

 Salvini retorted in a Facebook post that this report from Open Arms was nothing but "fake news": "These Lies and insults from a foreign NGO confirm that we are right: reducing the number of boats leaving Libya leads to a lower death rate, as well as reducing the profits of those who profit from illegal immigration. I'm standing firm. #closedports but #openhearts

 “I challenge whoever has dared to suggest in a tweet that I allowed a human being to be left at sea. My objective is to save everyone, help everyone, give assistance… but also to avoid a situation where everyone arrives in Italy.”

 Spain has overtaken Italy in terms of the number of migrants from the start of the year up until July 15: 18,016 have disembarked along the Spanish coast down the route of the Western Mediterranean, with respect to the 17,827 that had arrived through the central route from Libya to Italy. These figures came today from the International Migratory Organisation. In Spain the emergency is not showing signs of halting, with another 892 people rescued just the past weekend down the Andalusian coast.

 The number of migrants that arrived in Italy in June using the central Mediterranean route fell to 3000, 87 percent less than June last year. Meanwhile, for the first time the Western Mediterranean route is becoming the most active, with the number of those arriving in Spain having increased to 6.400, 166 percent more than June 2017. In general, in the first half of 2018 the number of these illegal crossings in the EU have halved compared to last year, Frontex reports.

 jp-cb