This morning an Italian coast guard patrol boat the Bruno Gregoretti, arrived at Boiler Wharf with the 24 bodies of migrants recovered after their boat capsized, it also carried 28 survivors from yesterday’s tragedy, who will be taken by the same patrol boat to Italy.
It is believed that the boat was carrying as many as 700 migrants when it sank.
Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muscat and the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi are demanding that the EU takes urgent action on human trafficking. EU foreign and interior ministers are due to meet today in Luxembourg to discuss the migrant crisis.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, has expressed his shock at the latest boat capsizing on the Mediterranean, and the hundreds of lives reported to have been lost.
“This disaster confirms how urgent it is to restore a robust rescue-at-sea operation and establish credible legal avenues to reach Europe. Otherwise people seeking safety will continue to perish at sea,” said António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
“But it also points to the need for a comprehensive European approach to address the root causes that drive so many people to this tragic end. I hope the EU will rise to the occasion, fully assuming a decisive role to prevent future such tragedies.”
UNHCR said that it has been advocating for an urgent response from the European Union to deal with the challenges faced by the thousands of people risking their lives to find safety in Europe.
“A comprehensive set of proposals has been shared by UNHCR, including a more robust search-and-rescue operation as well as credible legal avenue to reach safety – such as resettlement, humanitarian visas, and enhanced family reunification.”
So far in 2015, more than 35,000 asylum seekers and migrants have arrived by boat in southern Europe and – if Sunday’s toll is confirmed – some 1600 have died. In 2014, around 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean, and 3,500 lives were lost.