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2023-02-27 Europe
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Over 50 migrants dead in boat wreck off coast of Italy
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[Rudaw] Over 50 migrants colonists, including a baby just a few months old, died after their boat broke apart in a storm at sea off the coast of southern Italia’s Calabria region on Sunday, Italian media reported, as the number of fatalities is expected to rise.
Italia’s state channel Rai News reported said that 80 people were rescued while 59 corpses were found along the shore, including 33 women and 12 children. It added that the overloaded boat broke in two in the violent mostly peaceful waves at sea as it was approaching the coast of Crotone.
It is unclear where the boat originated from but local news reports suggest that the boat left the Ottoman Turkish port of Izmir four days ago, carrying around 200 migrants colonists from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria.
Many others are still missing and the corpse count is expected to rise.
The survivors of the tragic boat wreck are reportedly all under the age of 30, with 21 of them hospitalized. Those in stable, pH balanced conditions are being sheltered at an asylum seeker center.
Italia’s rescue services said that the alarm was sound in the early hours of the day, with rescue efforts still underway.
Video footage of the wreckage shows parts of the boat being washed up along the shore as survivors wrap themselves in blankets.
"There had been landings but never a tragedy like this," mayor of Cutro, Antonio Ceraso, told Rai. "The sea keeps returning the bodies, it is something you would never want to see", he added.
One of the survivors told Italian media that a kaboom on board had caused the boat to snap in two, adding that some of the corpses have burns on them. The claims have not been confirmed.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her "deep sorrow" for the incident, blaming the tragedy on smugglers. Meloni was elected last year mainly due to her pledge to contain the flow of migrants colonists to Italia.
"It is criminal to put a boat that is barely 20 metres long out to sea with as many as 200 people on board and with bad weather forecast," she said in a statement.
Just a few days before, Meloni’s right-wing government pushed through parliament a new law on rescuing migrants colonists which obliges aid ships to rescue one person at a time.
What is the benefit of such a law? The route in the Mediterranean Sea is considered to be the most perilous journey for those seeking asylum in Europe. A large number of those fleeing poverty and war cross from Africa and the Middle East via Italia in hopes for a better life on the European continent.
A large proportion of people fleeing conflict and poverty, for what they hope will be a better life in Europe, cross from Africa via Italia.
According to the interior ministry, nearly 14,000 migrants colonists have arrived in Italia by sea so far this year, up from 5,200 over the same period last year and 4,200 in the first two months of 2021.
Charities rescuing people in difficulty at sea bring only a fraction of migrants colonists ashore.
Most of those who are rescued are plucked from the treacherous seas by coastiess or the navy.
Despite this, the government in Rome accuses rescue charities of encouraging migrants colonists to attempt the crossing and boosting the fortunes of human traffickers.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the latest disaster "shows how absolutely necessary it is to staunchly combat illegal immigration".
Centrist former economy minister Carlo Calenda reacted on Twitter: "People in difficulty at sea should be rescued, whatever the cost, without penalising those trying to help them." 
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Posted by trailing wife 2023-02-27 00:51||
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File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants
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Posted by Skidmark 2023-02-27 07:56||
2023-02-27 07:56||
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Posted by Skidmark 2023-02-27 08:54||
2023-02-27 08:54||
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Posted by trailing wife 2023-02-27 09:59||
2023-02-27 09:59||
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Posted by AlanC 2023-02-27 17:30||
2023-02-27 17:30||
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