The number of migrants who died or went missing while crossing the Mediterranean in the summer of 2023 was three times more than in the same period in 2022, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported yesterday.
The United Nations Children’s Fund said that “the Mediterranean Sea has become a cemetery for children,” and it recorded the drowning of “at least 990 people, including children” in the central region of the Mediterranean between June and August 2023, that is, three times more than the number was in the same period. From 2022 when “at least 334 people died.”
UNICEF did not specify in numbers the number of children, but 11,600 “unaccompanied minors” attempted to go to Italy between January and mid-September 2023 in small boats, that is, 60% more than the same period last year when their number reached 70,000, according to what was reported. UNICEF explained to Agence France-Presse.
Regina De Dominicis, coordinator of this issue at UNICEF, said: “The tragic toll of children who die while seeking safety and refuge in Europe is the result of political choices and a failed immigration system.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Thursday, during a UN Security Council meeting devoted to the crisis in the Mediterranean, that more than 2,500 migrants died or went missing between January 1 and September 24, 2023, an increase of 50% over a year.
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2023-09-29 22:05:08
