Headlines
Mediterranean boat capsize: UN calls for 'comprehensive' response
United Nations, April 20
UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called for a "comprehensive and collective"
response to ensure "a robust search and rescue capacity in the
Mediterranean" after a boat capsize off the Libyan coast is believed to
have killed nearly 700 migrants.
"The secretary-general is
shocked and deeply saddened by reports that a ship carrying as many as
700 migrants and refugees has capsized off the Libyan coast," said a
statement issued here by Ban's spokesman, according to a Xinhua report.
This
disaster follows a similar tragedy last week, in which hundreds of
other migrants and refugees are reported to have died, according to the
statement.
"These are urgent reminders of the critical need for a robust search and rescue capacity in the Mediterranean," it added.
Nearly
700 migrants are suspected to have drowned when a packed boat capsized
in international waters south of Italy's Sicily island on Saturday
night. Sicily is located in the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya.
According
to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), out of the 700 people
on board the ill-fated boat, around 50 people have been rescued.
If the toll is confirmed, it will bring the total number of people who died this year trying to reach Europe to 1,500.
This
swelling exodus had prompted Europe to downsize its seek and rescue
border protection programme in a bid to deter the migrants, reports
said, though international aid groups strongly criticised the decision.
The majority of the migrants taking to the sea in an attempt to reach Europe are from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
At
least 218,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea last year
to enter Europe from its southern borders. Some 3,500 of them lost their
lives in the attempt, the UNHCR said in a statement, adding that the
trend is "expected to continue".
This made the Mediterranean the
world's deadliest route used by asylum seekers and migrants, said the UN
chief's statement, adding that their journeys were fraught with risks
of discrimination, violence and exploitation, and they urgently needed
protection.
"The secretary-general encourages European member
states and the European Union (EU) to accelerate their ongoing efforts
to comprehensively address the plight of those seeking refuge within
their borders," the statement said.
"With record numbers fleeing
war and persecution, more people are trying to reach Europe by boat and
more lives are being lost," the statement added.
"The
international response to this must be comprehensive and collective...
The challenge concerns not only improved rescue at sea and access to
protection. It is how to ensure the right to asylum of the growing
number of people worldwide fleeing war, who need refuge and safe haven,"
it noted.
The UN chief recognised the heavy impact the arrival
of so many migrants would have on Italy. He appealed to the
international community for solidarity and burden sharing in the face of
this crisis.