Rescuers recovered 4 more bodies a day after a wooden boat carrying irregular migrants to Europe sank after it collided with rocks, amid stormy weather off the coast of Italy at dawn last Sunday, bringing the death toll to 63, including 14 children. For her part, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said – in a television interview – that she had sent a message to European Union leaders calling for the bloc to take immediate action to stop migrant boat trips to Europe to prevent more deaths.
Yesterday, Monday, the Italian Coast Guard conducted a search in the sea and beaches for bodies left behind in a boat crash off Calabria, while the authorities are trying to determine the identities of the dead, in light of criticism of the Italian government’s immigration policy.
Rescuers said most of the migrants came from Afghanistan, as well as Iran, Somalia, Syria and elsewhere. The Foreign Ministry in Islamabad said 20 Pakistanis were on board the boat, of whom 4 are missing and 16 survived.
Many of the victims were washed ashore off the site of the boat’s sinking near the resort of Sticato di Cotro on the eastern coast of Calabria, and some bodies were recovered from the sea, the waves of which began to subside as the force of the storm winds subsided.
eulogizing the victims
Dozens of coffins were laid in a sports hall in the neighboring town of Crotone, in preparation for a funeral, while some residents laid flowers and candles at a metal fence outside to pay their respects to the victims.
The prayer for the victims was led by a Muslim imam, and a Catholic bishop came to pray and offer condolences, while some survivors sat crying outside the gym in the cold weather.
Local authorities said that 81 people survived the accident, but it is believed that the boat was carrying between 180 and 200 people when it sailed from Izmir (western Turkey), which suggests that many may have died or are still missing.
Sergio de Dato – who leads a team from Doctors Without Borders that provides psychological support to the survivors – indicated that there are cases of children orphaned by the disaster. He said, “A 12-year-old Afghan boy lost his entire family of 9; they are his four brothers, his parents, and very close relatives.”
Yesterday, Monday, media reports said that 3 were arrested on suspicion of people smuggling, and the police are searching for a fourth person.
The incident has again fueled debates over immigration in Europe, as well as in Italy, where its newly right-wing government’s tough new rules on the work of migrant rescue charities have drawn criticism from the United Nations and others.
“These heartbreaking incidents are the result of the tragic consequences of Italian and European policies, border protection and restrictions on safe and regular passage into Europe,” said Marco Bertoto, MSF program manager in Italy.
Italian position
Speaking to RAI public television, the Italian Prime Minister said, “The more people leave, the greater the risk of death. The only way to address this issue seriously and humanely is to stop the departures.”
Meloni – who was elected last September – pledged to put an end to the arrival of migrants, and stressed that the government was “committed to preventing the departure of (migration boats) and the accompanying tragedies.”
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Matteo Biantidosi has drawn widespread criticism after blaming people smugglers and migrants for embarking on dangerous sea voyages with their families.
“Despair can never be a reason to travel in circumstances that endanger the lives of their children,” he told reporters.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have arrived in Italy by boat over the past decade, fleeing conflict and hardship at home.
The UN’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean since 2014, including more than 220 this year, making it the most dangerous migration route in the world.
