The overloaded boat broke up early in the morning off the coast near the town of Crotone in the southern Italian region of Calabria in heavy seas, Italian media reported. While the coast guard assumed around 120 people on board, rescue workers spoke of more than 200 people.
Italian police pictures showed debris washed up on the beach. It shows rescue workers as well as survivors waiting to be taken to a refugee center.
“Dozens of people have drowned, including children. Many missing. Calabria is in mourning after this terrible tragedy,” said the region’s governor, Roberto Occhiuto. According to Italian President Sergio Mattarella, many of the migrants came from Afghanistan and Iran.
Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Georgia Meloni expressed her “deep pain” at the deaths. It is “criminal to let a boat that is barely 20 meters long with 200 people on board and a bad weather forecast put to sea”.
Your government is committed to preventing departures and thus “this type of tragedy”. Meloni said this requires the “maximum” cooperation of the states from which refugees come to Italy.
Just a few days ago, the Italian parliament passed a controversial government law on how to deal with refugees in the Mediterranean. It forces rescue ships to only perform one salvage action per mission. According to critics, this will significantly increase the risk of deaths in the Mediterranean.
Meloni took over the official business in Rome in October. Your right-wing government announced during the election campaign that it would stop the arrival of refugees in Italy.
EU Commission President von der Leyen wrote on Twitter about a “tragedy” that made her “deeply sad”. She called for greater efforts to reform EU asylum law. Pope Francis expressed his “pain”. He prays for the refugees.
Because of its geographical location, Italy is a particularly frequent destination for migrants who want to get to Europe from North Africa. According to the Italian Interior Ministry, around 14,000 refugees have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year. In the same period last year there were about 5300.
