UNHCR - New Mediterranean boat tragedy may be biggest ever, urgent action is needed now
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres today expressed his shock at the latest boat capsizing on the Mediterranean, and the hundreds of lives reported to have been lost.
As of a short time ago, according to information from the Maltese authorities, only around 50 of the 700 reported to be aboard, had been rescued.
Should these numbers be confirmed, the incident - which happened overnight - will be the largest loss of life from any incident on the Mediterranean involving refugees and migrants. It follows an incident only last week in which 400 lives were lost. The Lampedusa disaster of October 2013 saw almost 600 lives lost in two separate incidents.
Available information is that the boat overturned shortly before midnight on Saturday, in Libyan waters, some 180 kilometers south of Italy's Lampedusa. Italian and Maltese naval vessels and merchant ships have been among the approximately 20 vessels, along with several helicopters, that are engaged in the rescue operation being coordinated by the Italian authorities.
UNHCR is currently awaiting confirmation on where the survivors are being taken.
"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 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 today's toll is confirmed - some 1600 have died. In 2014, around 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean, and 3,500 lives were lost.
News contacts:
UNHCR Headquarters, Switzerland
- Adrian Edwards: +41 79 557 9120
- Melissa Fleming: +41 79 557 9122
- William Spindler: +41 79 217 3011
UNHCR Rome
- Federico Fossi: +39 349 0843461
- Barbara Molinario: +39 06 802 123 33
UNHCR Malta
- Fabrizio Ellul: +356 9969 0081
Your search for « mediterranean migrants » matched 1204 results. Only the first 1,000 results are displayed. Displaying page 3 of 112 pages.
-
Libya
... are registered with UNHCR. Refugees are travelling alongside migrants through dangerous routes towards Europe. Up to 90 per cent of people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe depart from Libya. ...... -
UNHCR calls for regional responsibility-sharing, identifying the situation in the Mediterranean as an 'opportunity'
7 Apr 2017 ... a regional mechanism to better deal with the flow of migrants and refugees across the Central Mediterranean, noting that restrictive policies forced people into the hands of people smugglers. ...... -
UNHCR and IOM call for urgent disembarkation of rescued migrants and refugees in Central Mediterranean Sea
29 Aug 2020 ... migrants and refugees currently on board three vessels in the Central Mediterranean. A group of some 27 migrants and refugees, including pregnant woman and children who departed from Libya have ...... -
Italian coastguard rescues thousands of migrants and refugees in Mediterranean
14 Apr 2015 ... GENEVA, April 14 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency on Tuesday renewed its call for stepped up rescue operations in the Mediterranean after the Italian Coastguard saved some 8,500 migrants and refugees ...... -
UNHCR and IOM appeal to European leaders to tackle Mediterranean deaths
17 Oct 2018 ... record rate of drownings on the Mediterranean Sea. The leaders of the two organizations warn that political discourse concerning refugees and migrants, particularly those arriving by boat, has ...... -
On this journey, no one cares if you live or die.' Abuse, protection, and justice along routes between East and West Africa and Africa's Mediterranean coast
29 Jul 2020 ... Africa’s Mediterranean coast FOREWORD By Charlotte Slente, Secretary-General of the Danish Refugee Council, and Bram Frouws, Head of the Mixed Migration Centre Refugees and migrants face ...... -
UNHCR Central Mediterranean Sea Initiative (CMSI), EU solidarity for rescue-at-sea and protection of Asylum Seekers and Migrants
16 Mar 2015 ... C M S I – A C T I O N P L A N EU SOLIDARITY FOR RESCUE AT SEA AND PROTECTION OF REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS The movement of refugees and migrants by dangerous means across the Mediterranean Sea towards ...... -
News comment on search and rescue in the Central Mediterranean by Gillian Triggs, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
1 May 2020 ... UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for greater coordination, solidarity and responsibility-sharing, in view of the increased movements of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite ...... -
Italy: Mediterranean Rescue
21 Mar 2014 ... The Italy Navy rescues hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers on the high seas as the numbers of people undertaking the crossing of the Mediterranean from North Africa grows....