Massimo Sestini

義大利

一般新聞　單幅　第二名

在利比亞海岸25公里遠外的一艘船上擠滿了難民，他們後來被一艘參與「地中海行動」的義大利海上巡防艦救起。2013年底有數百名難民在義大利外海蘭佩杜薩島附近溺斃，義國政府之後便發起這項搜救行動。因為在敘利亞、非洲之角和其他撒哈拉以南非洲國家的衝突和迫害，冒著生命危險渡過地中海的人數在2014年遽增。參與「地中海行動」的團體包括義大利紅十字會、慈善機構「救助兒童會」和其他非政府組織，希望除了救援性命外，也能提供醫療協助、諮詢和文化上的支援。海軍隊員也獲得授權可逮捕人口販子並扣押他們的船隻。在一年的任務期間，該行動讓330名人蛇接受法律制裁，救了超過十五萬人，其中至少有四分之一是敘利亞難民。這項救援行動在十月時解散，被歐盟邊境管理局的「海神行動」取代，重點也從救援轉為巡邏。

Massimo Sestini

Italy

2nd Prize General News Singles

Refugees crowd on board a boat some 25 kilometers from the Libyan coast, prior to being rescued by an Italian naval frigate working as part of Operation Mare Nostrum (OMN). The search-and-rescue operation was put in place by the Italian government, in response to the drowning of hundreds of migrants off the island of Lampedusa at the end of 2013. The numbers of people risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea rose sharply in 2014, as a result of conflicts or persecution in Syria, the Horn of Africa, and other sub-Saharan countries. OMN involved the Italian Red Cross, Save the Children, and other NGOs in an effort not only to rescue lives, but to provide medical help, counseling, and cultural support. Naval officers were also empowered to arrest human traffickers and seize their ships. In its one year of operation, OMN brought 330 smugglers to justice, and saved more than 150,000 people, at least a quarter of which were refugees from Syria. The operation was disbanded in October, and replaced by Triton, an operation conducted by the EU border agency Frontex, focusing more on surveillance than rescue.