Nearly 100 dead or missing migrants in Mediterranean so far in 2024 – IOM
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Nearly 100 migrants have died or disappeared in the central and eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of 2024, more than double the toll recorded last year during the same period, the UN migration agency said on Monday. Handout image obtained by Reuters, on 12th October, 2023 shows a Medecins Sans Frontieres rescue […]
Cyprus rescues 60 Syrian migrants from boat, children found unconscious
Nicosia, Cyprus Reuters Sixty Syrian migrants were rescued from a small boat off Cyprus on Wednesday after being stranded at sea for days, including three children and a man who were found unconscious on board, Cypriot authorities said. Authorities scrambled rescue helicopters and patrol vessels after a merchant vessel reported seeing a small wooden fishing […]
The Long Read: Migrant’s drowning in Mediterranean prompts criticism of Malta’s rescue policies
READE LEVISON, of Reuters, reports on concerns over Malta’s response to migrants needing rescue in the Mediterranean Sea…
No “sea of death”: Pope calls for pan-European action on migration
Marseille, France Reuters Pope Francis on Saturday condemned “belligerent nationalisms” and called for a pan-European response to migration to stop the Mediterranean, where thousands have drowned, from becoming “the graveyard of dignity”. Immigration issues dominated his 27-hour trip to Marseille, a French port that for centuries has been a crossroads of cultures and religions. French President […]
Italy’s Lampedusa pleads for help after thousands of migrant arrivals
Lampedusa, Italy Reuters The small Italian island of Lampedusa is being overwhelmed by the number of migrants arriving on its shores, its mayor said on Thursday, after thousands of people landed from North Africa on flimsy boats over the past two days. Lampedusa sits in the Mediterranean between Tunisia, Malta and the larger Italian island […]
Pope Francis denounces “pain and shame” of Mediterranean migrant deaths
Milan, ItalyReuters Pope Francis on Sunday urged politicians to address the “open wound” of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, saying he had been praying for the 41 people who died in a shipwreck earlier this month. “With both pain and shame we must declare that, since the start of the year, already almost 2,000 men, […]
Forty-one feared dead in migrant shipwreck in central Mediterranean
Rome, ItalyReuters Forty-one migrants are thought to have died in a shipwreck last week in the central Mediterranean, Italian authorities and United Nations agencies said on Wednesday, citing survivors who have been taken to the Italian island of Lampedusa. Local public prosecutor Salvatore Vella and three UN agencies confirmed media reports that four people who […]
Essay: Dismantling the myth that ancient slavery “wasn’t that bad”
CHANCE BONAR, a scholar of ancient slavery and early Christian history, debunks three myths about slavery in the ancient Mediterreanean world…
EU probes border agency’s rescue role after migrant shipwreck killed hundreds
Brussels, BelgiumReuters The EU rights watchdog on Wednesday announced a probe into Europe’s deadliest shipwreck in years and whether the bloc’s Frontex border agency fulfilled its rescue duties when the boat sank off Greece last month killing hundreds of migrants. An undated handout photo provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard shows migrants onboard a boat […]
Tunisia recovers 901 bodies of drowned migrants off its coast this year
Tunis, TunisiaReuters The Tunisian coast guard recovered 901 bodies of drowned migrants off its coast from 1st January to 20th July this year, the country’s interior minister, Kamel Feki, said on Wednesday, marking an unprecedented number of victims off the country’s coasts. A view shows boats that were used by migrants and seized by Tunisian […]