Captain arrested in migrant sea tragedy
THE captain and a crew member of the boat which sunk off the coast of Italy on Saturday with more than 900 migrants, including children, on board, have been arrested on human trafficking charges.
Assistant prosecutor Rocco Liguori said the two men – the Tunisian captain and Syrian crew member – have been charged with favouring illegal immigration. The captain was also charged with reckless multiple homicide in relation to the sinking.
The men were arrested on the rescue boat that brought 28 survivors from the shipwreck, which may have killed as many as 900 people, to Italy.
Only days after the disaster, the European Union has unveiled a 10- point action plan to stem the tide of migrants boarding unseaworthy boats for Europe, following a spate of tragic disasters in the Mediterranean.
In addition to Saturday’s horrific event, at least three people died on Monday when a boat ran aground off the Greek island of Rhodes.
With more than 50,000 lives lost in the Mediterranean Sea since 2000, Doctors Without Borders president Loris De Filippi said Europe had a responsibility to open its borders to refugees.
“A mass grave is being cre- ated in the Mediterranean Sea and European policies are responsible,” he said.
“Faced with thousands of desperate people fleeing wars and crises, Europe has closed borders, forcing people in search of protection to risk their lives and die at sea. This tragedy is only just beginning, but it can and should be stopped.”
On Monday, the European Commission said a new plan, approved by EU foreign and interior ministers at an emergency meeting in Luxembourg, will be submitted to a summit tomorrow as the 28- member bloc tries to halt a growing death toll off its southern shores. The 10- point plan calls first for the current Triton maritime frontier mission to be stepped up, both in funding and resources.
Triton replaced Italy’s own Mare Nostrum mission which Rome scrapped late last year in protest that its EU partners did not share the burden.
The EU will also try to capture or destroy people- smuggling boats and increase cooperation across the board.
In Monday’s sinking off Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, a child was among at least three dead. Shocking footage shows survivors clinging to floating debris while rescuers pulled them from the waves.