Migrant boat capsizes off Libya's coast - 100 feared dead

The Italian coast guards have indicated that a migrant boat capsized about 30 miles off the coast of Libya and, at least 100 migrants are missing and presumed to be dead. Four survivors have been rescued and eight bodies recovered so far, as per officials who are coordinating the rescue effort.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 15 January 2017.

French and Italian naval and merchant vessels apart from a plane and a helicopter were involved in rescue operations but poor conditions were hampering the search. The boat was believed to have carried 110 people as indicated by a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Incidentally, in the previous 24 hours, coast guard and naval ships and privately-owned vessels had saved nearly 750 migrants who attempted to cross the Mediterranean in rickety boats and, at least five people have died in the process.
According to government figures, a record number of 181,000 boat migrants, mostly from Africa, have reached Italy in 2016 and, most of the boats and migrant ships set off from Libya's lawless coasts because people smugglers can operate with impunity.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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2,300 migrants traveling in 17 inflatable boats rescued from the Mediterranean

Refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries keep trying to flee from the violence and atrocities in their homeland and enter Europe for safety and a better life. They try to cross the Mediterranean using various means and, sometimes they succeed, at other times, they are drowned in the attempt.
As per latest reports, nearly 2,300 migrants including many women and very young children have been rescued from the Mediterranean while they were on a perilous crossing to Italy.
This has been reported in thestatesman.com dated 11 September 2016.

The rescue was carried out by a team of a Spanish ship, an Irish naval vessel and several humanitarian boats. The migrants were traveling on 17 inflatable boats and a fishing boat. The rescues comes after a huge wave of migrants who arrived in Italy at the end of August. At that time, more than 14,000 people mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, were brought to safety in the span of five days.
As per records of Italy's interior ministry, about 124,500 migrants have arrived since the start of 2016 - this was slightly lower than the 122,000 recorded last year. Italy continues to extend shelter to growing numbers of would-be refugees because other European countries have tightened their borders.
Italy now has 148,000 asylum-seekers in reception centers as compared to 103,000 in 2015 and 66,000 in 2014.


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Nearly 4000 migrants fleeing from Libya rescued from the Mediterranean Sea

As indicated by the Italian coastguard, nearly 4,000 migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea even as tens of thousands of migrants continue to flee Libya and head towards Europe. The total may be a record in spite of the fact that around 4,400 migrants were pulled from unseaworthy boats in the region in a single day in August last year.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 27 May 2016.

Some 20 bodies were spotted in the sea while a spokesman of the Libyan has said that 766 migrants were rescued by the Libyan coastguard. Another 550 were found near the coastal city of Sabratha and 216 off Zwara. As per reports of Interpol last week, another 800,000 migrants in the lawless north African country are waiting for an opportunity to make the journey to Europe.
A study has claimed that people smugglers were organized in loosely connected networks and they continue to facilitate passage of migrants to Europe - the annual turnover of migrant smuggling was believed to have been in excess of $5bn in 2015.
Incidentally, annual EU net migration to the UK is of the order of a record 184,000 - this is based on the last immigration figures to be released before Britain votes in the EU referendum. This figure is an increase of 10,000 on the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics. The number of migrants arriving at Calais has started to rise in recent weeks. This has led to apprehensions of another summer of humanitarian problems and cross-Channel disruption.


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More than 400 migrants fleeing from Egypt to Italy drowned when the boat capsized

It was a boat carrying nearly 400 African migrants who were fleeing from Egypt and were headed for Italy. The boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea and dozens of the migrants have met a watery grave. Most of them were fleeing from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea and had been hoping to reach Italy.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 18 April 2016.

It is understood from Somali media reports that rescue workers have managed to rescue only 29 passengers from the waters after the shocking incident and the remaining more than 400 migrants are believed to have drowned. Social media users have indicated that the boat had started its journey in Egypt with Italy being its intended destination. This is a route that is favored by many smugglers.


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Syrian migrants try to enter EU via Hungary and avoid the Mediterranean route

In order to prevent infiltration of migrants into its country through the Serbia borders, the government of Hungary is considering use of its army to secure the southern border. Migrants are pouring in from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia and any decision to send troops to the frontier would have to be approved by Budapest's parliament.
This has been reported on foxnews.com dated 26 August 2015.

The flow of migrants needs to be better controlled and Hungary is preparing laws to make it a crime to cut through the fence or to enter Hungary illegally and is increasing the penalties for human traffickers. Unless deterrent actions are taken, many European cities could face unsustainable situations.
Hungary is also trying to construct a 13-foot-high fence to keep out the migrants, many of whom are from Syria and the large numbers that are crossing the border could become EU’s worst refugee crisis since the end of World War II.
This Balkan corridor for migrants is becoming more and more popular because using this route, the migrants avoid the dangerous boat crossings in the Mediterranean from North Africa to Italy.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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Twelve Christian migrants tossed overboard from a rubber dinghy by Nigerian Muslim migrants

#africanmigrants #MediterraneanSea #italy #rubberdinghy #palermo This is another case of religious divide that resulted in the death of 12 Christian migrants when they were tossed overboard in the Mediterranean Sea from a rubber dinghy by Nigerian Muslim migrants. The dinghy was transporting roughly 100 African refugees across the Mediterranean. It finally arrived in the port of Palermo in southern-Italy.
This has been reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 18 April 2015.

It seems when it began to sink, a Nigerian Christian prayed for his life in an innocent act that finally ended in the death of 12 fellow Christian migrants. As per reports, one of the Muslims on board the rickety craft ordered the Christian to stop. He said that prayers can only be to Allah.
When the Christian refused to oblige, there was a violent fight and 12 Christians were thrown overboard by the Muslim refugees. The Italian police are believed to have arrested 15 people suspected of the killing including one person from the Ivory Coast.
This news has come after an unprecedented 10,000 refugees fleeing war and persecution in Africa have been rescued by Italian ships in the past week.
As revealed by the UN, a total of 23,500 migrants had sailed to Italy this year apart from another 12,000 who had sailed to Greece.

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