The Italian coastguard sent help on Saturday to a rescue boat funded by street artist Banksy after the vessel issued urgent pleas for assistance, saying it was stranded and overloaded with migrants.The coastguard said a patrol boat dispatched from the southern Italian island of Lampedusa had taken 49 of “those considered most vulnerable” among the 219 migrants on board.The Louise Michel, a migrant rescue boat, earlier made a call for emergency help on Twitter after coming to the aid of another boat in the Mediterranean.The vessel, which has a crew of 10, had rescued 89 people on Thursday from a rubber dinghy in distress. It then encountered and assisted another boat trying to cross from North Africa to Europe which had 130 people on board, including someone who had already died.Distress Calls Initially IgnoredThe 31-meter (101-foot) Louise Michel, which sails under a German flag, requested help on Twitter, saying that the migrants that it had picked up had been at sea for days.One had died; some were suffering from fuel burns, another message said.A later message read: “#LouiseMichel is unable to safely move and nobody is coming to our aid. The people rescued have experienced extreme trauma; it’s time for them to be brought to a #PlaceOfSafety. We need immediate assistance.” Also read: British Street Artist Banksy Funds Refugee Rescue BoatEuropean rescue missions ceased in July during the coronavirus pandemic. The crew of the Louise Michel said that European relief agencies had refused their call for help and called on them to take responsibility, tweeting to the Maltese army to “proceed immediately to the position and do your job!”Pink, ‘Anti-Fascist’ BoatThe boat is painted pink and white and features a piece of artwork by Banksy showing a young girl in a life-vest and holding a safety buoy in the shape of a heart.The artist, whose identity is unknown, reached out to German human rights activist Pia Klemp in September 2019 and offered to buy the rescue mission a new boat.The boat is small but fast; able to outrun the Libyan coastguard, according to The Guardian. It is named after the 19th century French anarchist Louise Michel. Klemp told the newspaper that she believed she was chosen by the artist for her political position saying, “I don’t see sea rescue as a humanitarian action, but as part of an anti-fascist fight.”Last year, over 100,000 people attempted to make the journey across the Mediterranean to escape conflict; poverty in Africa and the Middle East with nearly 1,300 people dying.Banksy has previously been critical of Europe’s lacklustre response to the migrant crisis.(DW)