Life jackets over Valletta statues raise awareness on migrants dying at sea

'Statues that celebrate war heroes will be used to remember those dying in our seas,' German NGO JugendRettet says

Ten life jackets shrouded Valletta statues in an effort to bring awareness to migrants dying along the Libyan coast
Ten life jackets shrouded Valletta statues in an effort to bring awareness to migrants dying along the Libyan coast

Life jackets appeared over ten statues in Valletta this morning, in an effort to bring awareness to irregular migrants who die at sea.

"Statues that celebrate our war heroes will be used to remember those dying in our seas,” Jugend Rettet activist Jessie Seal said.

The number 14,500, representing the number of people drowned in the central Mediterranean sea since 2015, is written on each jacket.

'"I have met boys with bullets in their feet from the Libyan camps,” continued Seal. "Libya is not a safe place to keep people and I will not allow our governments to do dodgy deals to fund mafias and militias in Northern Africa".

The NGO has called on European youth to follow suit, in an effort to encourage the European Union to allow safe passage for migrants along the Libyan coast.

Jugend Rettet is a German NGO committed to "fight dying in the Mediterranean". Their ship, lUVENTA, has been roaming the central Mediterranean since 2016 and has rescued more than 14,000 migrants.