Enlarge / The Generation Identity crowdfunded ship C-Star broke down off Libya’s coast this morning. (credit: Sea-Eye)
A right-wing “European identity” group called Generation Identity crowdfunded enough to hire a ship in order to intercept refugees from North Africa trying to reach Europe. But as the effort cast off in July, Patreon cancelled an account being used to fund the efforts. And today, the group’s ship lost propulsion off the coast of Libya. The ship that arrived to provide assistance was one operated by Sea-Eye, a nongovernmental organization coincidentally working to rescue refugees in distress on the Mediterranean.
The C-Star is a 42-year-old research and survey ship operated by Marine Global Services Ltd. and registered in the land-locked nation of Mongolia. The vessel was hired in July by the anti-refugee organization using funds from a Patreon campaign called “Defend Europe” that started in May. Through sites such as Patreon and WeSearchr, the group collected funds for its “rescue mission”:
It’s a mission to save Europe, stop illegal immigration and save lives on the sea. We want to expose doings of the NGOs, disrupt the human traffickers and support the Libyan Coastguard with informations [sic]. To do that we need your help to get our ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
The group promoted their cause and fundraising campaign with the assistance of Canadian right-wing YouTube personality Lauren Southern. Southern had accompanied Generation Identity on a prior mission at-seas, when the group used a small boat to intercept a rescue ship operated by Doctors Without Borders and the French refugee rescue charity SOS Mediterranee (Generation Identity fired flares at it). Southern said that the group’s goal was to get more boats and to use nets and other tools to foul the propellers of “migrant boats.”
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