No fewer than 300 migrants have docked in Palermo after being rescued from a
boat which capsized off the Libyan coast on Wednesday. The Irish navy
vessel also carried 25 bodies retrieved during the rescue operation
in the Mediterranean. It comes as hopes faded of finding more survivors
with more than 200 feared drowned.This year alone more than 2,000
migrants and refugees have died trying to reach Europe by boat, a
grim statistic that has led NGOs to call for more action.
“I
think that this last crisis, this last accident, has shown very
clearly that the current available capacity is not enough,”
explains Managing Director of Medecins Sans Frontieres Germany,
Florian Westphal. “There have been improvements since the start of
May. There are now more ships involved including those from Doctors
Without Borders. But unfortunately it is still not enough. In order
to save lives at sea this now needs to be the main priority for those
involved.”After initials interviews with those onboard, it appears
the fishing boat was crammed with mostly Syrian refugees fleeing the
country’s civil war.
Palermo’s
mayor said that “we are witnessing a genocide caused by European
selfishness,” while EU officials called on member states to do more
to prevent migrants from making the dangerous journey across the
Mediterranean.
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