Another arrest has been made in connection with a fatal shipwreck off the southern coast of Italy that killed at least 72 people last month. Meanwhile, there’s growing disagreement about where the remains of the victims should be buried.
A national soccer player from Pakistan seeking medical treatment for her three-year-old son was among the 71 migrants confirmed dead in a shipwreck off Italy's southern coast eight days ago. Further details about the tragic journey are starting to emerge.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has sentenced the Hungarian government to almost €40,000 in damages for the death of a Syrian refugee. The incident occurred while he tried to cross from Serbia to Hungary by boat on the Tisza river in 2016.
The Italian coast guard has recovered the bodies of five migrant men and three migrant women in the Mediterranean. One of the women reportedly was pregnant. The bodies of two people were still missing after initial search operations.
The Ocean Viking private rescue vessel, run by the aid organization SOS Mediterranee, has rescued 37 migrants in distress off the coast of Libya on Saturday. Later that same day, the team on board the Geo Barents vessel, run by MSF, rescued 73 people.
Across the Middle East, hundreds of people have been deciding to embark on dangerous journeys at sea to seek better opportunities. Some are trying to escape the Syrian war, others from economic hardship in Lebanon, and some want to overcome the legacy of decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians – only to meet their death.
Tunisian authorities have recovered the bodies of four people believed to be African migrants, including a pregnant woman, off the coast of Kerkennah Island in the Central Mediterranean.
A teenager was among the four people who died when a migrant boat capsized in the English Channel on Wednesday, a regional official said. Of the 39 survivors, a dozen were unaccompanied children who have been taken into care in Kent.
Police in the UK have arrested a 32-year-old man suspected of having played a key role in the fatal Channel crossing incident one year ago. The man was detained in southwestern in the UK town of Cheltenham following a joint investigation by UK and French authorities.
The French and British "went to great lengths to show that it was up to the other side to take responsibility for the search and rescue," a migrant charity has said of the November 2021 incident that amounted to one of the largest single loss of life in the English Channel. Investigations have revealed how French and British authorities failed to rescue 27 drowning migrants.
Lebanon is mourning the death of almost 100 people, who drowned in the Mediterranean last week after setting off from its northern shores. Many say that the deadly voyage could have been prevented if rich politicians put the money where their mouths are.
Five children and a woman have reportedly drowned in the Aegean Sea, while five people remain missing. Turkish authorities have accused Greek officials of pushing the migrants back towards Turkey.