Appalling tragedy as 3 babies are among 100 drowned migrants
THEY are scenes that readers will find utterly shocking. But they bring home the appalling human cost of the unfolding migration crisis.
Just off the north-western coast of Libya, rescuers tenderly carry ashore the tiny bodies of three babies, the smallest victims of the latest tragedy to befall those trying to cross the Mediterranean.
The children were three of more than 100 migrants who drowned at sea while attempting to reach Europe yesterday. Just 1 survivors from the boat were taken to a centre in Tajoura, a town in north-western Libya, yesterday. Thirty women and 70 men were among the dead after having to swim for more than an hour before help arrived.
The disaster came after EU leaders spent nine hours discussing the issue of migration in a bid to stem numbers attempting perilous journeys.
It is unclear where the boat was going or where it was from, but travelling to Italy from Libya is one of the most popular routes for smugglers. It came before the Libyan coastguard intercepted a further three boats carrying around 400 migrants, which were taken to Tripoli naval base.
UNHCR Libya spokesman Paula Barrachina Esteban said: ‘UNHCR teams were present at the disembarkation and assisted survivors with medical and humanitarian assistance.
‘Sixteen survivors were disembarked, while 100 died at sea, including 30 women and 70 men. The bodies of three babies were also recovered. The survi-
vors swam for one hour before they were rescued.’
Doctors were said to be providing medical assistance at the rescue site yesterday. According to UNHCR figures, more than 16,520 people have entered Italy after crossing the Mediterranean so far this year, with more than 2,000 returned to Libya.
Overall crossings on the Mediterranean are down about 95 per cent on peak arrivals in 2015. There have been more than 45,000 arrivals by sea across the Mediterranean into Spain, Italy and Greece so far this year, with an estimated 1,13 dying while making the journey. It comes after Italy’s new populist government stirred controversy this month by closing its ports to ships rescuing migrants.
Miss Esteban added: ‘This particular shipwreck was like a rubber dinghy but it had a wooden base and the wood made a hole in the rubber so it could no longer float and it was also overcrowded. The boat sank as the wood pierced the rubber.
‘Those on board were mainly from west Africa but there were also some Yemenese. ‘About 123 people were on the boat in total which set off some time this morning.’