Mediterranean Is The Deadliest Sea For African Migrants

 The death toll for migrants from Nigeria and other African countries drowned in Mediterranean Sea since the beginning of 2015 is already worse than the death toll for Titanic catastrophe. More than 1500 people have found their death in its waters since January, comparing with 96 for the same period of time in 2014.

Following recent tragedy on Saturday when capsized migrant boat took lives of more than 700 people EU president Donald Tusk stated that he  “have decided to call an extraordinary European Council this Thursday to address situation in the Mediterranean”.

The catastrophe is happened to be the worst disaster in the living memory involving African migrants crossing Mediterranean in search for better fortunes in Europe.

Together with other similar tragic cases for the past week alone the death toll amounts more than 1100 people.

READ ALSO: 12 Ghanaian And Nigerian Immigrants Thrown Into The Sea 

Nevertheless, in the past several days more than 10,000 have been rescued by coastguards and other boats and taken to Italy.

“The Italian maritime forces are doing incredible work and are trying to rescue as many people as possible,” said International Organization for Migration Italy Director and Coordinator for the Mediterranean Federico Soda. “What strikes us most, however, is the increase in the number of fatalities. This is unacceptable. Search and rescue efforts must be more comprehensive and supported by the European Union and its Member States. This is a humanitarian emergency that involves us all and responses to it must be more holistic.”

The majority of incoming migrants appear to be from Sub-Saharan Africa, Eritrea, Somalia and Syria and were, for the most part, rescued in international waters. According to some of the migrants interviewed by IOM staff in Southern Italy, the bad weather conditions were the main cause for the decrease in number of incoming migrants in March.

Source: Legit.ng