UN: Over 700 Migrants May Drowned At Sea This Week

MEP: The UN refugee agency announced on Sunday that at least 700 to 900 migrants in three boats may have drowned and died at Mediterranean sea this past week trying to cross from Libya towards Italy.

Migrants boat in the Mediterranean sea

Migrants boat in the Mediterranean sea
Migrants boat in the Mediterranean sea

MEP: The UN refugee agency announced on Sunday that at least 700 to 900 migrants in three boats may have drowned and died at Mediterranean sea this past week trying to cross from Libya towards Italy.

The latest drownings – which would push the death toll for the year to more than 2,000 people – are a reminder of the cruel paradox of the Mediterranean calendar: As summer approaches with blue skies, warm weather and tranquil waters prized by tourists, human trafficking along the North African coastline traditionally kicks into a higher gear.

“We will never know exact numbers,” Medecins San Frontieres said in a Tweet after estimating that 900 had died during the week. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said more than 700 had drowned.

Migrants interviewed on Saturday in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo told of a large fishing boat that overturned and sank on Thursday with many women and children on board.

The deaths point to the lack of solutions to the migrant crisis, which has been exacerbated by the violent chaos in Libya and fuelled by the conflict in Syria.

About 100 are thought to have either been trapped in the hull or to have drowned after tumbling into the sea on Wednesday.

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