ITALY: Urgent calls for the EU to provide safe and legal routes for migrants after a week of deadly shipwrecks – Save the Children

ROME, 9 August 2023 - EU and its member states must take responsibility and prevent migrant deaths at sea by improving search and rescue efforts in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, Save the Children said after three deadly shipwrecks over the past week.

Giovanna Di Benedetto, Save the Children's spokesperson in Italy, said it had been a deadly week on the Mediterranean. According to reports, 41 migrants including three children died in a shipwreck last week off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Another two vessels capsized on the weekend in the same area, with the bodies of a woman and toddler recovered by the Italian coastguard. Based on survivors' first accounts, dozens of people are still missing.

"How many more 'wakeup calls' do EU governments need? While thousands of Europeans are enjoying their holidays in the Mediterranean, children are drowning. The EU is ignoring their duty of care for children and families seeking safety in Europe. We fear there will be more bodies before we see meaningful change. This is a tragedy for all Europeans.

"Deaths on the move are not inevitable. One of the reasons for such deaths at Europe's land and sea border is the EU's failure to provide safe and legal routes for those seeking safety.

"Save the Children calls on the EU and its member states to take responsibility and prevent migrant deaths at sea by improving search and rescue efforts and ensuring ships in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, whether they are NGOs or merchant vessels, face no obstacles when they rescue people in distress and help them reach safety."

Save the Children runs programmes in many European countries, including close to border areas and disembarkation points, focusing on emergency assistance, child protection, information and psychosocial support, training and education.

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