Rome - Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Although five ships, a surveillance plane, and a helicopter participated in the rescue operation, teams were able to save 60 people, including 56 men and four women. However, at least 26 people died on Wednesday when a migrant boat sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa, in one of the latest human disasters along the dangerous migration route across the central Mediterranean, according to Reuters.
The Coast Guard confirmed that rescue teams found the capsized boat about 14 nautical miles (23 kilometers) from Lampedusa after an Italian police plane spotted it. Human bodies were seen floating in the water, prompting a large-scale search and rescue operation.
Officials explained that the migrants had set off in the early hours of Wednesday morning from the Tripoli area in Libya on two boats. According to initial testimonies from survivors, one of the boats began to leak, so the passengers were transferred to the second boat, which later capsized in difficult sea conditions. According to Euronews, five ships, a surveillance plane, and a helicopter participated in the operation. The teams were able to rescue 60 people, including 56 men and four women. Four of the survivors were taken to a local hospital for medical examinations, while the condition of the rest was described as "relatively stable," according to Cristina Palma of the Italian Red Crescent in Lampedusa. Initial estimates from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) indicated that the boat was carrying between 92 and 97 migrants, meaning that searches are still ongoing to determine the exact number of victims and missing persons. "Since the beginning of the year, 675 people have died in the Central Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe. This tragedy is yet another reminder of the extreme risks migrants face," said Filippo Ongaro, UNHCR spokesperson in Italy.
"What happened today confirms once again the need to prevent irregular departures and to prevent smuggling networks from continuing to exploit human lives," added Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi via the X platform.
The government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which has a tough migration policy, has pledged to take deterrent measures against human smugglers, including tougher prison sentences, and has called on partner countries in North Africa and the European Union to intensify security cooperation to combat migrant smuggling.