Crime News
25 Migrants Die On Stranded Boats In The Mediterranean Sea
At least 25 people are believed to have died or are missing, including a pregnant woman, when a group of migrant boats got stranded at sea and was rescued off the Spanish coast on Thursday.
Briefing reporters in Geneva on Friday, spokesperson for the UN High Commission Refugees (UNHCR), Elizabeth Throssell, said that colleagues in the field had reported that bodies had been found on two of the boats.
“You can imagine how traumatizing that was for the people who were rescued,” Ms Throssell said.
According to reports, the migrants had sailed from North Africa.
On one of the six vessels found adrift in the Straits of Gibraltar, in the western Mediterranean Sea, 33 people had been rescued, but 12 had died and a further 12 were missing, UNHCR said.
On another of the boats, the UN refugee agency said 57 people had been on board, including one that had already died by the time of the rescue.
“There was a massive sea-swell that threw them into the water,” Ms Throssell said, adding that among the survivors was a mother and her two-year-old child who was evacuated by helicopter, after she was found to be suffering from hypothermia.
She added that many of the survivors were being held at detention centres at the Port of Almeria in Spain.
“Our implementing partner is there to provide the people with information and support and to help any potential protection and other needs and of course to promote access to the asylum process for those who may need it,” she said.
Delivering the latest overall statistics on the deadly Mediterranean migration route, UN migration agency (IOM) spokesperson, Joel Millman, said that as of December 19, 113,000 migrants had entered Europe by sea so far in 2018.
According to him, the figure is the lowest recorded in five years.
Recently, however, he said the death rate for migrants attempting to reach Spain, had tragically begun to tick upwards, with 769 fatalities registered on the western Mediterranean migration route.
“That’s only slightly more than half of all on the Central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy, but what’s remarkable is how rapidly that number has increased over the last three months,” he said.
Mr Millman said it was likely that there would be “more incidents like this” in the next 10 days.
L. Ibiyemi
December 23, 2018 at 8:40 AM
When they tell them not to go they wont listen
Princess Kehinde Aderemi
December 23, 2018 at 8:56 AM
Africans can never learn. Stop risking ur lives
Mon
December 23, 2018 at 9:45 AM
Indirect murder committed by African leaders, until the people/masses summon courage to gather together and chase them out from office, nothing will change.80% may be Nigerians.
Nigerians need to emulate IPOB strategy so that every region can govern themselves,nothing will ever change through election.
iron bar
December 23, 2018 at 11:22 AM
A very dangerous way to travel..hope the so called OAU OR AU are seeing their effects of failed leadership in their continent as people seek for greener pastures abroad even preg women.so shameful they cant assist their own and yet squander their common wealth.
Fifelomo
December 23, 2018 at 4:20 PM
Its only a stubborn fly that follow the dead to the grave. Are they not aware or they chose to be deaf? May their souls rip.
Michele
December 23, 2018 at 7:05 PM
The immigrants themselves are responsible for their lives and no one else. They know very well
of the existing danger, but nonetheless the exile continues, they are determined to come to Europe at all costs.Ultimately the UN has to understand once and for all that we can not bring the whole of Africa into Europe, it is unthinkable, impossible. Europeans have cooperated and we are still cooperating whenever possible, but they got to understand that we in Europe are extremely saturated, so much that no more can be absorbed, this seems to have no end.
Mofe
December 24, 2018 at 1:59 AM
Grammer.
Rosy
December 24, 2018 at 4:24 PM
may the souls of the departed rest in peace. those who are planning to make the same mistake, please pass through the authorized means not short cuts