(Rome) At least forty migrants, including a newborn baby a few months old, died after the sinking at dawn of their boat not far from the Italian city of Crotone, in Calabria (South), indicated Sunday the Italian Coast Guard.
“As of now, 80 people have been recovered alive, some of whom have managed to reach shore after the sinking, and 43 bodies have been found along the coastline,” said a Coast Guard statement issued at the end of the month. morning.
“Dozens and dozens of drowned, including children, many missing. Calabria is in mourning for this terrible tragedy,” said regional president Roberto Occhiuto in a statement.
According to the Coast Guard, the boat was carrying about 120 people and broke on the rocks a few meters from the coast, the firefighters evoking “more than 200 people” on board the boat.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ITALIAN POLICE VIA REUTERS
Italian police footage shows wood debris scattered over a hundred meters of the beach, where many rescuers and survivors were waiting to be transferred to a reception center.
Expressing her “deep pain”, the head of government Giorgia Meloni judged in a press release “criminal to put at sea a boat of barely 20 meters with 200 people on board and a bad weather forecast”.
“The government is committed to preventing departures, and with them this kind of tragedy, and will continue to do so, requiring above all the greatest collaboration of the States of departure and origin,” assured Ms.me Meloni.
The new shipwreck comes just days after parliament passed controversial new rules by the far-right-dominated government on rescuing migrants.
Mme Meloni, leader of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia party (FDI), took over as head of a coalition executive in October after promising to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Italy.
” Illegal immigration ”
The new law requires humanitarian ships to carry out only one rescue at a time, which critics say increases the risk of deaths in the central Mediterranean whose crossing is considered the most perilous in the world for migrants.
For Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, this “tragedy […] demonstrates how it is absolutely necessary to fight firmly against the channels of illegal immigration”.
Italy’s location makes it a top destination for asylum seekers crossing from North Africa to Europe and Rome has long complained about the number of arrivals to its territory.
According to the Interior Ministry, nearly 14,000 migrants have landed in Italy since the start of the year, compared to around 5,200 during the same period last year and 4,200 in 2021.
However, NGOs transport only a small percentage of migrants wishing to arrive in Europe, most being rescued by coast guard or navy vessels.
However, the government accuses the NGOs of stimulating the arrival of migrants through their action and encouraging traffickers.
“People at sea must be saved whatever the cost, without penalizing those who help them,” reacted Sunday on Twitter Carlo Calenda, ex-minister and leader of the centrist party Azione.
“It is humanly unacceptable and incomprehensible why we are here witnessing avoidable tragedies,” wrote Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Twitter.