Imagine being stranded on a metal platform in the middle of the sea, with no food, no shelter, and no way to escape.
That is the grim reality for 32 migrants who have been left clinging to the lower decks of a gas rig drifting in the Mediterranean.
Trapped above the roaring waves, they are battling hunger, cold, and despair as an international standoff delays their rescue.
One of the stranded men took to social media, describing their harrowing journey.
He explained that they had set off from Libya on a rubber dinghy, surviving five days at sea before being shipwrecked near the Miskar oil and gas field, off the coast of Tunisia.
Now, with nowhere to go, they are desperately waiting for help that may never come.
Dire Conditions and a Cry for Help
Videos and images from the rig show men, women, and children huddled together, visibly shivering as they sit or lie on the cold metal grating.
Tragically, at least one person has already died. In a heart-wrenching plea, a man speaking in Tigrinya—suggesting he may be from Eritrea or Ethiopia’s Tigray region—described their worsening situation.
“We are sick, we are hungry, and we are cold. If you can come and help us, please do.
Otherwise, we will end up like the others,” he said. “We haven’t eaten in five days. We are dying from the cold.”
The International Dispute Over Who Should Act
Despite their desperate need, no country has stepped forward to take responsibility.
According to the activist-run group Med Alarm Phone and the refugee rescue organization Sea Watch, four days have passed with no sign of a rescue operation.
Under international law, migrants in distress have the right to be taken to a safe harbor.
However, both Libya and Tunisia are deemed unsafe for refugees.
European authorities, including Italy and Malta, have been alerted to the crisis, but action has yet to be taken.
Sea Watch spokesperson Paul Wagner revealed that workers on the Miskar gas rig confirmed to their reconnaissance aircraft that the migrants were still alive.
“We demand that Italian and Maltese authorities intervene immediately.
These people are in international waters, and they have a right to be taken to a safe harbor,” Wagner said.
Reports suggest that the Tunisian Navy initially offered to rescue the migrants, but no vessel ever arrived.
Oil Companies Under Scrutiny
Activists argue that the operators of the Miskar gas rig, Amilcar Petroleum Operations (APO), bear a moral responsibility to assist the stranded migrants.
APO, a joint venture between Tunisia’s state-owned oil company and Shell, has not commented on the situation.
Although the gas field falls under Tunisian jurisdiction, it is located in international waters just a few dozen miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa.
This raises further questions about which nation should take action.
The Broader Migration Crisis
The Miskar gas rig crisis is just one part of a much larger issue.
The same weekend, Tunisian authorities rescued 64 migrants from a capsized boat off the country’s eastern coast.
These individuals, believed to have set sail from Libya, were found after running out of fuel. Fortunately, no deaths were reported in that incident.
According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), more than 30,000 migrants set sail from Libya to Italy in 2024 alone, with 61% of arrivals originating from Libya and 32% from Tunisia.
The UN’s International Organisation for Migration estimates that over 100 migrants have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean since the beginning of 2025.
What Happens Now?
As the clock ticks, the fate of the 32 migrants stranded on the gas rig remains uncertain.
Will Italy or Malta step up to rescue them? Will APO take responsibility? Or will they be left to suffer the same fate as countless others who have perished at sea?
With mounting international pressure, authorities can no longer afford to ignore their cries for help. The world is watching—and waiting—for action.