Search for migrants missing after shipwreck continues in Italy

Rome, Jun 24 (RHC) Italian rescue forces continue the search for more than 40 migrants missing after the shipwreck of a boat, which occurred a few hours ago off the coast of the southern island of Lampedusa, a spokesman said.

Flavio Di Giacomo, the spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said in statements published on the website of the newspaper La Repubblica, that of the 46 people on board only four were rescued alive, and among the missing are seven women, one of whom was traveling with a newborn baby.

The tragedy occurred last Friday night and was caused by bad weather conditions in the central Mediterranean Sea area, which caused the ship to sink only six hours after it departs from the Tunisian coast of Sfax.

According to the latest report of the Italian Ministry of the Interior, from January 1 to June 23, 2023, 59,767 migrants arrived on the coasts of this country, 131.0 percent more than the 254,795 registered in the same period of the previous year.

Of this total, 7,574 were from the Ivory Coast, 7,388 were from Egypt, 6,374 from Guinea, 5,915 were from Pakistan, 5,754 from Bangladesh, 4,61 were from Tunisia, and 3,527 were from Syria.

In addition, 2,393 nationals from Burkina Faso, 2,7 thousand from Cameroon, and 1,1,612 from Mali, while the remaining 12,527 came from other countries, and of the overall total, 6,481 unaccompanied minors were counted.

While in 2021 the number of landings of irregular migrants amounted to 67,477, the following year it reached 105,127 and by 2023 it is expected that this last number will double, since the largest number occurs mainly in the summer months, according to analysts of that organization (Source: Prensa Latina).