A boat carrying 80 migrants attempting to reach Spain capsized near Morocco, with over 40 Pakistanis reportedly among the dead. Watch this report for more details!

Pakistani migrants drown seeking a better life

Pakistan on Thursday said that a boat carrying 80 migrants attempting to reach Spain capsized near Morocco, with over 40 Pakistanis reportedly among the dead. Watch this report for more details!

Migrant boat en route Spain capsizes near Morocco, over 40 Pakistanis feared drowned

Migrant boat capsizes near Morocco, over 40 Pakistanis reportedly drown

A boat carrying over 200 migrants capsized&nbsp;off the Yemen coast, leaving at least 39 dead and several&nbsp;missing, a UN agency said on Tuesday (June 11).

"Tragic incident off #Yemen coast: Boat with 260 migrants sank yesterday. 39 dead, 150 missing, 71 survivors," the International Organisation for Migration said on X, referring to Monday's sinking.

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Tragic incident off <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yemen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Yemen</a> coast: Boat with 260 migrants sank yesterday. 39 dead, 150 missing, 71 survivors. 
 
IOM is providing immediate aid to survivors. 
 
More updates to follow!!! <a href="https://t.co/y65sKsksBh">pic.twitter.com/y65sKsksBh</a>
— IOM Spokesperson (@IOMSpokesperson) <a href="https://twitter.com/IOMSpokesperson/status/1800432280080638027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
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According to the survivors on the boat, the vessel that was carrying 260 migrants, sank on Monday (June 10) amid strong winds.

Also read:&nbsp;<a data-ctorig="https://www.wionews.com/world/migrant-boat-capsizes-off-djibouti-leaving-21-dead-714387" data-cturl="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/migrant-boat-capsizes-off-djibouti-leaving-21-dead-714387&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwihrqDzl9OGAxW4ZWwGHbbyDB0QFnoECAIQAg&amp;usg=AOvVaw2eJnCIB-6Oa_JIyKwfIC9s&amp;arm=e&amp;fexp=72519171,72519168" dir="ltr" href="https://www.wionews.com/world/migrant-boat-capsizes-off-djibouti-leaving-21-dead-714387" target="_blank">Migrant boat&nbsp;capsizes off Djibouti leaving 21 dead</a>

Search operation is underway for 150 people who are still missing. International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it was providing aid to 71 survivors.

Hadi al-Khurma, the director of Rudum district, told Reuters news agency the boat sank before it reached the shore.

However, the fishermen and residents managed to save 71 survivors, who reported that more migrants were missing from the same boat, al-Khurma said.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/channel-crossing-seven-year-old-girl-dies-as-boat-carrying-16-migrants-capsizes-696161">Channel crossing: Seven-year-old girl dies as boat carrying 16 migrants capsizes</a>

"The search is still ongoing and the United Nations has been informed of the incident," he said.

Notably, according to the UN, 97,000 migrants arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa last year.

(More details awaited) 
&nbsp;

A boat carrying over 200 migrants capsized off the Yemen coast, leaving at least 39 dead and several missing, a UN agency said on Tuesday (June 11). "Tragic incident off #Yemen coast: Boat with 260 migrants sank yesterday.

A boat carrying over 200 migrants capsized off the Yemen coast, leaving at least 39 dead and several missing, a UN agency said on Tuesday (June 11). "Tragic incident off #Yemen coast: Boat with 260 migrants sank yesterday. 39 dead, 150 missing, 71 survivors," the International Organisation for Migration said on X, referring to Monday's sinking. Tragic incident off #Yemen coast: Boat with 260 migrants sank yesterday. 39 dead, 150 missing, 71 survivors. IOM is providing immediate aid to survivors. More updates to follow!!! pic.twitter.com/y65sKsksBh — IOM Spokesperson (@IOMSpokesperson) June 11, 2024 × According to the survivors on the boat, the vessel that was carrying 260 migrants, sank on Monday (June 10) amid strong winds. Also read: Migrant boat capsizes off Djibouti leaving 21 dead Search operation is underway for 150 people who are still missing. International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it was providing aid to 71 survivors. Hadi al-Khurma, the director of Rudum district, told Reuters news agency the boat sank before it reached the shore. However, the fishermen and residents managed to save 71 survivors, who reported that more migrants were missing from the same boat, al-Khurma said. Also read: Channel crossing: Seven-year-old girl dies as boat carrying 16 migrants capsizes "The search is still ongoing and the United Nations has been informed of the incident," he said. Notably, according to the UN, 97,000 migrants arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa last year. (More details awaited)

39 migrants dead after boat capsizes off Yemen coast

A small boat carrying 16 migrants heading from northern France to Britain capsized, killing a seven-year-old girl who drowned Sunday (Mar 3), the prefecture in France's Nord department said.&nbsp;

In a statement, the local authority said that the boat "was not appropriately sized to carry so many people".&nbsp;

More number of people caused it to capsize soon after they boarded the Aa canal a few kilometres from the coast.&nbsp;

The prefecture added that police and firefighters rushed to the scene after a person out for a walk raised the alarm.&nbsp;

The statement further added that the girl's parents, who were travelling with three more of their children, were taken to a hospital in Dunkirk.&nbsp;

The "apparently stolen" boat was carrying another couple, two more adults, and six little children, who were all taken to the hospital.&nbsp;

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/switzerland-jewish-man-wounded-in-zurich-after-rare-stabbing-attack-hate-crime-suspected-696060">Switzerland: Jewish man wounded in Zurich after rare stabbing attack, hate crime suspected</a>&nbsp;

<h2>Channel crossing data&nbsp;</h2>

A recently published government data showed that 249 people crossed the English Channel on Wednesday (Feb 28). According to the data, five boats were detected during the day.&nbsp;

A report by the news agency mentioned that Sunday marks the third fatal incident in a Channel crossing attempt so far this year.&nbsp;

A 22-year-old Turkish man died on Wednesday after falling overboard into the sea off Calais, while two more migrants remain missing.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/leaking-uk-cargo-ship-attacked-by-houthis-sinks-in-red-sea-raises-environmental-concerns-696019">Leaking UK cargo ship Rubymar attacked by Houthis sinks in Red Sea, raises environmental concerns</a>&nbsp;

An Eritrean citizen suspected to be part of a gang has been charged with manslaughter in that case and held in custody since Saturday.&nbsp;

Five more people, including a 14-year-old Syrian boy, were killed in mid-January as they tried to board a boat in chilly seas south of port city Calais.&nbsp;

According to figures from London's interior ministry, last year, 12 people were killed in crossing attempts, while 29,437 reached Britain.&nbsp;

Afghanistan contributed approximately 20 per cent, followed by Iran, Turkey, Eritrea, and Iraq.&nbsp;

Migrant crossings across the English Channel remain a source of contention between Britain and France, with 671 arriving in England in February.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

A small boat carrying 16 migrants heading from northern France to Britain capsized, killing a seven-year-old girl who drowned Sunday (Mar 3), the prefecture in France's Nord department said.

A small boat carrying 16 migrants heading from northern France to Britain capsized, killing a seven-year-old girl who drowned Sunday (Mar 3), the prefecture in France's Nord department said. In a statement, the local authority said that the boat "was not appropriately sized to carry so many people". More number of people caused it to capsize soon after they boarded the Aa canal a few kilometres from the coast. The prefecture added that police and firefighters rushed to the scene after a person out for a walk raised the alarm. The statement further added that the girl's parents, who were travelling with three more of their children, were taken to a hospital in Dunkirk. The "apparently stolen" boat was carrying another couple, two more adults, and six little children, who were all taken to the hospital. Also read: Switzerland: Jewish man wounded in Zurich after rare stabbing attack, hate crime suspected Channel crossing data A recently published government data showed that 249 people crossed the English Channel on Wednesday (Feb 28). According to the data, five boats were detected during the day. A report by the news agency mentioned that Sunday marks the third fatal incident in a Channel crossing attempt so far this year. A 22-year-old Turkish man died on Wednesday after falling overboard into the sea off Calais, while two more migrants remain missing. Also read: Leaking UK cargo ship Rubymar attacked by Houthis sinks in Red Sea, raises environmental concerns An Eritrean citizen suspected to be part of a gang has been charged with manslaughter in that case and held in custody since Saturday. Five more people, including a 14-year-old Syrian boy, were killed in mid-January as they tried to board a boat in chilly seas south of port city Calais. According to figures from London's interior ministry, last year, 12 people were killed in crossing attempts, while 29,437 reached Britain. Afghanistan contributed approximately 20 per cent, followed by Iran, Turkey, Eritrea, and Iraq. Migrant crossings across the English Channel remain a source of contention between Britain and France, with 671 arriving in England in February. (With inputs from agencies)

Channel crossing: Seven-year-old girl dies as boat carrying 16 migrants capsizes

In another migrant shipwreck incident, around 40 people are missing after their boat capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the UN said on Friday.

The United Nations agency released a statement saying that the survivors, who were from sub-Saharan Africa, arrived in Lampedusa on Thursday after they were rescued from the shipwreck by another vessel.

As per the news agency AFP, UNHCR representative to Italy, Chiara Cardoletti, said that at least one newborn baby was among those missing in the incident.

The vessel, which departed from Sfax in Tunisia for Italy, had 46 migrants on board, said Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the UN migration agency IOM.

He said that the boat capsized due to high waves and strong winds.

"Some survivors were taken to Lampedusa and others were brought back to Tunisia," he said.

"Among those missing were seven women and a minor. The survivors are all adult men,"&nbsp;he added.&nbsp;

"We have noticed more arrivals of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa than Tunisians&nbsp;via the Tunisian route since November," he said.

He explained this was due to people from sub-Saharan Africa fleeing discrimination in Tunisia.

"It is unacceptable to continue counting the dead at the gates of Europe,"&nbsp;Cardoletti said.

<h2>Tunisia boat tragedy: 14 people from sub-Saharan African nations drown</h2>

Earlier, at least 14 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned off the coast of Tunisia in the month of March.

The Tunisian authorities said that they discovered a sunken boat from which they rescued 54 people of various sub-Saharan African nationalities. The authorities had recovered 14 dead bodies from the spot.&nbsp;

"Coast guard patrols last night intercepted a group whose boat had sunk, rescuing 54 people of various sub-Saharan African nationalities, and recovering 14 bodies," the authority said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Tunisia President Kais Saied ordered officials to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration, claiming that "a criminal plot" was underway to change Tunisia's demography. He claimed that migrants were behind most crime in the North African country.

Tunisia, whose coast lies just 150 kilometres (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa, has long been a transit for people fleeing war and poverty elsewhere in Africa, often on boats.

Tunisia reportedly hosts around 21,000 undocumented migrants from other parts of Africa, less than 0.2 per cent of the population.

Rome said in February that more than 32,000 migrants, including 18,000 Tunisians, reached Italy from Tunisia last year, while thousands more have departed from neighbouring Libya.

(With inputs from agencies)

&nbsp;

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In another migrant shipwreck incident, around 40 people are missing after their boat capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the UN said on Friday. The United Nations agency released a statement saying that the survivors, who were from sub-Saharan Africa, arrived in Lampedusa on Thursday after they were rescued from the shipwreck by another vessel.

In another migrant shipwreck incident, around 40 people are missing after their boat capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the UN said on Friday. The United Nations agency released a statement saying that the survivors, who were from sub-Saharan Africa, arrived in Lampedusa on Thursday after they were rescued from the shipwreck by another vessel. As per the news agency AFP, UNHCR representative to Italy, Chiara Cardoletti, said that at least one newborn baby was among those missing in the incident. The vessel, which departed from Sfax in Tunisia for Italy, had 46 migrants on board, said Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the UN migration agency IOM. He said that the boat capsized due to high waves and strong winds. "Some survivors were taken to Lampedusa and others were brought back to Tunisia," he said. "Among those missing were seven women and a minor. The survivors are all adult men," he added. "We have noticed more arrivals of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa than Tunisians via the Tunisian route since November," he said. He explained this was due to people from sub-Saharan Africa fleeing discrimination in Tunisia. "It is unacceptable to continue counting the dead at the gates of Europe," Cardoletti said. Tunisia boat tragedy: 14 people from sub-Saharan African nations drown Earlier, at least 14 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned off the coast of Tunisia in the month of March. The Tunisian authorities said that they discovered a sunken boat from which they rescued 54 people of various sub-Saharan African nationalities. The authorities had recovered 14 dead bodies from the spot. "Coast guard patrols last night intercepted a group whose boat had sunk, rescuing 54 people of various sub-Saharan African nationalities, and recovering 14 bodies," the authority said in a statement. Earlier this year, Tunisia President Kais Saied ordered officials to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration, claiming that "a criminal plot" was underway to change Tunisia's demography. He claimed that migrants were behind most crime in the North African country. Tunisia, whose coast lies just 150 kilometres (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa, has long been a transit for people fleeing war and poverty elsewhere in Africa, often on boats. Tunisia reportedly hosts around 21,000 undocumented migrants from other parts of Africa, less than 0.2 per cent of the population. Rome said in February that more than 32,000 migrants, including 18,000 Tunisians, reached Italy from Tunisia last year, while thousands more have departed from neighbouring Libya. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Around 40 migrants missing after boat capsizes between Italy and Tunisia

A small boat carrying around 40 migrants sunk off the southeastern coast of England in freezing temperatures, according to multiple reports on Wednesday. Subsequently, the British government confirmed the incident and said that four people were killed.&nbsp;British radio station LBC has earlier said that 43 people had been rescued and a small number had died.&nbsp;

According to media reports, lifeboats, helicopters and rescue teams are working&nbsp;with the French and British navies to respond to the event. A government spokesperson, in a statement, said that "At 3:05 (GMT) today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress."

It added, "After a coordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident." The spokesperson also said that an investigation&nbsp;is underway.&nbsp;

On Wednesday, ambulances and emergency crews gathered on the quayside at the port of Dover to handle the sinking incident. According to Sky News, some of the migrants were transferred to a hospital in Kent's Ashford town.&nbsp;

Taking to Twitter, British interior minister Suella Braverman tweeted, "I am aware of a distressing incident in the Channel this morning and I am being kept constantly updated while agencies respond and urgently establish the full facts. My heartfelt thoughts are with all those involved.''

The sinking incident comes a day after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to toughen the laws to stop the small boats crossing the Channel, including legislation to prevent migrants from remaining in the country, Reuters reported.&nbsp;

In the last week, temperatures have plunged across Britain. Despite this, over 500 migrants have made the journey in small boats since the weekend alone.&nbsp;

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A small boat carrying around 40 migrants sunk off the southeastern coast of England in freezing temperatures, according to multiple reports on Wednesday. Subsequently, the British government confirmed the incident and said that four people were killed.

A small boat carrying around 40 migrants sunk off the southeastern coast of England in freezing temperatures, according to multiple reports on Wednesday. Subsequently, the British government confirmed the incident and said that four people were killed. British radio station LBC has earlier said that 43 people had been rescued and a small number had died. According to media reports, lifeboats, helicopters and rescue teams are working with the French and British navies to respond to the event. A government spokesperson, in a statement, said that "At 3:05 (GMT) today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress." It added, "After a coordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident." The spokesperson also said that an investigation is underway. On Wednesday, ambulances and emergency crews gathered on the quayside at the port of Dover to handle the sinking incident. According to Sky News, some of the migrants were transferred to a hospital in Kent's Ashford town. Taking to Twitter, British interior minister Suella Braverman tweeted, "I am aware of a distressing incident in the Channel this morning and I am being kept constantly updated while agencies respond and urgently establish the full facts. My heartfelt thoughts are with all those involved.'' The sinking incident comes a day after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced plans to toughen the laws to stop the small boats crossing the Channel, including legislation to prevent migrants from remaining in the country, Reuters reported. In the last week, temperatures have plunged across Britain. Despite this, over 500 migrants have made the journey in small boats since the weekend alone. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

UK: Boat carrying migrants sinks off English Coast, four dead

To most eyes, the scruffy, sun-faded ship that left Venice for Sicily last week might have looked like a junkyard-ready wreck.

Instead, as the ship embarked upon what might have been its final voyage, via barge and tugboat, and arrived in Sicily on Tuesday, others were hoping it would become a monument to the devastating toll exacted by the trafficking of people across the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe by unscrupulous operators.

The ship, the relic of the deadliest wreck in the Mediterranean in living memory, is a symbol of contemporary migration in Europe that has become part of its cultural heritage, said Maria Chiara Di Trapani, an independent curator working on future projects for the vessel.

On April 18, 2015, the unnamed ship, originally built as a fishing vessel for a crew of around 15, capsized off the coast of Libya, becoming the watery grave for the more than 1,000 people — many from Mali, Mauritius and the Horn of Africa — crammed onboard. Only 28 passengers survived.

The ship’s fate “has to be a reminder that this situation cannot happen in a civilized country,” said Cristina Cattaneo, a forensic pathologist and anthropologist who has been working to identify the hundreds of victims who were trapped in the hull when it sank.

The ship became a tangible symbol of Europe’s failings on migration and of the continent’s inability to conceive of, let alone implement, coordinated policies to handle the mass arrival of migrants, which has intensified in recent decades. Since that disaster, the Missing Migrants Project, run by the International Organization for Migration, has recorded a minimum of 12,521 deaths or disappearances during migration across the Central Mediterranean route.

The ship sank after colliding with a Portuguese freighter that had come to its assistance. An analysis of the shipwreck has been treated by migration activists as a case study on the perils of inexpert assistance at sea. The ship was later used as evidence in a case against the Tunisian captain who piloted the ship and in 2018 was convicted of human trafficking.

“The story of the boat is very complex, involving many people,” said Enzo Parisi, spokesman for the Comitato 18 Aprile, a citizens group in Augusta, Sicily, that wants the boat to become a monument, “a testimony to tragedies at sea.”

In June 2016, the Italian government decided to raise the wreck 1,200 feet from the bottom of the sea to identify the victims. The ship was taken to a naval base in Augusta, and the victims were extracted.

Genetic data was sampled, and corpses and remains were photographed, as were passports, vaccination records and scraps of paper with hand-scribbled telephone numbers. Everything was sent to a forensic laboratory at the University of Milan for the laborious task of cataloging and possible identification.

The ship’s destiny, at that point, was to head to the scrapyard, like hundreds of ships that have been seized by Italian authorities.

But the wreck’s symbolic power had become apparent. In 2019, supported by the Comitato 18 Aprile, Augusta’s municipal council was granted custody of the ship. The region lobbied to have it declared a monument of cultural interest and the committee came up with proposals for a memorial that would have the ship as the centerpiece.

“As a seaport, Augusta has always been welcoming,” said Mayor Giuseppe Di Mare.

The Sicilian city is a first landing spot for many migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, before they are processed and shuttled off to other Italian cities. Because of the coronavirus, the sea rescues now include an interim stop on quarantine ships, and currently there are two such ships in Augusta’s harbor.

In 2019, the ship took an unexpected detour, when — with the approval of city hall and the committee — Swiss Icelandic artist Christoph Büchel took the wreck to the Venice Biennale, mooring it at the Arsenale, the former shipyard of the once-formidable Venetian Republic.

Now christened “Barca Nostra” (Italian for “Our Ship”), the vessel was presented at the art exhibit as a “monument to contemporary migration” and restrictions on personal freedoms.

Last Wednesday, the ship was loaded onto a barge. It arrived in Augusta on Tuesday.

With its return to Sicily, the wreck can become a “starting point to reflect on Italy’s responsibility for these deaths at sea,” said Giorgia Mirto, a doctoral student at Columbia University who has mapped where migrants who die at sea are buried in Italian cemeteries. In a 2019 documentary about the disaster and the attempts to identify the victims, Mirto counted headstones in a cemetery that read: “Unknown Immigrant Deceased in the Strait of Sicily on 18.4.2015.”

The project to identify victims continues. Cattaneo, who is responsible for the university laboratory in Milan, said that funding shortages had hampered the work and that, so far, only six victims had been identified using their methodology, which involves comparing the DNA extracted from the victims to that of family members, as well as anthropological and dental traits.

She is hopeful that progress will be made this year, as the university is now working with other academic institutions, as well as Italian law enforcement authorities, but she cautioned that the condition in which researchers had found the bodies after a year underwater made everything “extremely complex.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross and other national affiliates have also been involved in identifying the victims of the tragedy. They have adopted a different, complementary approach, attempting to draft a list of the passengers onboard by cross-referencing the accounts of survivors, witnesses, relatives and friends, as well as from the objects recovered from the ship. Currently, they are calling some of the nearly 1,500 phone numbers — which have been tracked to 56 countries — that were found in the wreckage in hopes of gleaning new clues.

“For us, the passenger manifest is the most important thing, because by naming victims you are acknowledging them as persons,” said Jose Pablo Baraybar Do Carmo, transregional forensic coordinator for the Red Cross, who has been “working like crazy” on the wreck since 2017. “It’s important to remove these people from invisibility” and let their families know that “there is someone who is trying to find out what happened” to someone who is missing, he said.

So far, his team has managed to identify 474 people who were on the boat.

The coronavirus has drastically reduced Mediterranean crossings over the past 14 months, as well as deaths. Even so, as of Tuesday, 449 migrants are known to have died in the first months of 2021.

The ship will now undergo urgent maintenance, after two years exposed to a north Italian climate.

Augusta has envisioned placing the ship in what the authorities describe as a “Garden of Memory,” which “will have to be in the open, because that boat gives a sense of the sea, the air, the skies. To enclose it in a building would clash with its’ story,” said Di Mare. “Certainly, the ship has attained an international dimension and we want this garden to become a place of reflection for the world, so that all people can ponder.”

To most eyes, the scruffy, sun-faded ship that left Venice for Sicily last week might have looked like a junkyard-ready wreck. Instead, as the ship embarked upon what might have been its final voyage, via barge and tugboat, and arrived in Sicily on Tuesday, others were hoping it would become a monument to the devastating toll exacted by the trafficking of people across the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe by unscrupulous operators.

To most eyes, the scruffy, sun-faded ship that left Venice for Sicily last week might have looked like a junkyard-ready wreck. Instead, as the ship embarked upon what might have been its final voyage, via barge and tugboat, and arrived in Sicily on Tuesday, others were hoping it would become a monument to the devastating toll exacted by the trafficking of people across the Mediterranean from Africa to Europe by unscrupulous operators. The ship, the relic of the deadliest wreck in the Mediterranean in living memory, is a symbol of contemporary migration in Europe that has become part of its cultural heritage, said Maria Chiara Di Trapani, an independent curator working on future projects for the vessel. On April 18, 2015, the unnamed ship, originally built as a fishing vessel for a crew of around 15, capsized off the coast of Libya, becoming the watery grave for the more than 1,000 people — many from Mali, Mauritius and the Horn of Africa — crammed onboard. Only 28 passengers survived. The ship’s fate “has to be a reminder that this situation cannot happen in a civilized country,” said Cristina Cattaneo, a forensic pathologist and anthropologist who has been working to identify the hundreds of victims who were trapped in the hull when it sank. The ship became a tangible symbol of Europe’s failings on migration and of the continent’s inability to conceive of, let alone implement, coordinated policies to handle the mass arrival of migrants, which has intensified in recent decades. Since that disaster, the Missing Migrants Project, run by the International Organization for Migration, has recorded a minimum of 12,521 deaths or disappearances during migration across the Central Mediterranean route. The ship sank after colliding with a Portuguese freighter that had come to its assistance. An analysis of the shipwreck has been treated by migration activists as a case study on the perils of inexpert assistance at sea. The ship was later used as evidence in a case against the Tunisian captain who piloted the ship and in 2018 was convicted of human trafficking. “The story of the boat is very complex, involving many people,” said Enzo Parisi, spokesman for the Comitato 18 Aprile, a citizens group in Augusta, Sicily, that wants the boat to become a monument, “a testimony to tragedies at sea.” In June 2016, the Italian government decided to raise the wreck 1,200 feet from the bottom of the sea to identify the victims. The ship was taken to a naval base in Augusta, and the victims were extracted. Genetic data was sampled, and corpses and remains were photographed, as were passports, vaccination records and scraps of paper with hand-scribbled telephone numbers. Everything was sent to a forensic laboratory at the University of Milan for the laborious task of cataloging and possible identification. The ship’s destiny, at that point, was to head to the scrapyard, like hundreds of ships that have been seized by Italian authorities. But the wreck’s symbolic power had become apparent. In 2019, supported by the Comitato 18 Aprile, Augusta’s municipal council was granted custody of the ship. The region lobbied to have it declared a monument of cultural interest and the committee came up with proposals for a memorial that would have the ship as the centerpiece. “As a seaport, Augusta has always been welcoming,” said Mayor Giuseppe Di Mare. The Sicilian city is a first landing spot for many migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, before they are processed and shuttled off to other Italian cities. Because of the coronavirus, the sea rescues now include an interim stop on quarantine ships, and currently there are two such ships in Augusta’s harbor. In 2019, the ship took an unexpected detour, when — with the approval of city hall and the committee — Swiss Icelandic artist Christoph Büchel took the wreck to the Venice Biennale, mooring it at the Arsenale, the former shipyard of the once-formidable Venetian Republic. Now christened “Barca Nostra” (Italian for “Our Ship”), the vessel was presented at the art exhibit as a “monument to contemporary migration” and restrictions on personal freedoms. Last Wednesday, the ship was loaded onto a barge. It arrived in Augusta on Tuesday. With its return to Sicily, the wreck can become a “starting point to reflect on Italy’s responsibility for these deaths at sea,” said Giorgia Mirto, a doctoral student at Columbia University who has mapped where migrants who die at sea are buried in Italian cemeteries. In a 2019 documentary about the disaster and the attempts to identify the victims, Mirto counted headstones in a cemetery that read: “Unknown Immigrant Deceased in the Strait of Sicily on 18.4.2015.” The project to identify victims continues. Cattaneo, who is responsible for the university laboratory in Milan, said that funding shortages had hampered the work and that, so far, only six victims had been identified using their methodology, which involves comparing the DNA extracted from the victims to that of family members, as well as anthropological and dental traits. She is hopeful that progress will be made this year, as the university is now working with other academic institutions, as well as Italian law enforcement authorities, but she cautioned that the condition in which researchers had found the bodies after a year underwater made everything “extremely complex.” The International Committee of the Red Cross and other national affiliates have also been involved in identifying the victims of the tragedy. They have adopted a different, complementary approach, attempting to draft a list of the passengers onboard by cross-referencing the accounts of survivors, witnesses, relatives and friends, as well as from the objects recovered from the ship. Currently, they are calling some of the nearly 1,500 phone numbers — which have been tracked to 56 countries — that were found in the wreckage in hopes of gleaning new clues. “For us, the passenger manifest is the most important thing, because by naming victims you are acknowledging them as persons,” said Jose Pablo Baraybar Do Carmo, transregional forensic coordinator for the Red Cross, who has been “working like crazy” on the wreck since 2017. “It’s important to remove these people from invisibility” and let their families know that “there is someone who is trying to find out what happened” to someone who is missing, he said. So far, his team has managed to identify 474 people who were on the boat. The coronavirus has drastically reduced Mediterranean crossings over the past 14 months, as well as deaths. Even so, as of Tuesday, 449 migrants are known to have died in the first months of 2021. The ship will now undergo urgent maintenance, after two years exposed to a north Italian climate. Augusta has envisioned placing the ship in what the authorities describe as a “Garden of Memory,” which “will have to be in the open, because that boat gives a sense of the sea, the air, the skies. To enclose it in a building would clash with its’ story,” said Di Mare. “Certainly, the ship has attained an international dimension and we want this garden to become a place of reflection for the world, so that all people can ponder.”

After a tragedy at sea, a wrecked ship becomes a powerful symbol in Italy

Spain's new Socialist government has offered to take in the 629 migrants aboard the Aquarius rescue ship that was stranded in the Mediterranean after Italy and Malta refused to let it dock.

It is unclear if the gesture marks a change in policy in Madrid under new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez or whether it will have a "pull effect" that draws more migrants to Spain.

Here are some key facts about migrant arrivals in Spain:

Arrivals by sea double &nbsp

Since the start of the year, over 9,300 migrants reached Spain's shores by sea, more than double the figure for the same period last year, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The number of migrants who died while trying to reach Spain by sea has more than quadrupled to 244 as of June 10 from 61 last year during the same period.

Most migrants travel in packed boats from Morocco's northern shore to Spain's southern coast, a distance of over 100 kilometres (60 miles) depending on the route.

Spain was the third most popular destination for migrants in the European Union last year after Italy and Greece.

What happens after they arrive?&nbsp

After passing through a police station to be identified, migrants are usually taken to one of seven longer-term immigration detention centres where they wait for up to 60 days for their fate to be decided.

Some 8,800 people passed through these centres last year, according to official figures. Human rights Watch and other rights groups complain that migrants are held in poor conditions in these centres and face obstacles in applying for asylum.

"A lot of people are released into the streets after 72 hours (at a police station), because currently there are no more places in the centres," Carlos Arce, migration coordinator at the Human Rights Association of Andalusia (APDHA), told AFP.

These migrants are left to fend for themselves, without any follow-up or help from the government, he added.

For those who manage to formally seek asylum, the system is saturated.

Is there a 'siren call' risk?

The government's decision to take in the migrants from the Aquarius, operated by SOS Mediterranee, has been generally well received in Spain, with dozens of cities and regions offering to give them shelter.

But the conservative Popular Party which ran Spain for six years, until they were ousted in a no-confidence vote on June 1, quickly sounded the alarm that the move would act as a "siren call" for more migrants.

While the number of migrants arriving in Spain by sea has doubled, in Italy arrivals by sea have dropped by 73 percent over the same period last year to 14,330 as of June 10, according to IOM figures.

Change in policy? 

Sanchez cited "humanitarian reasons" for agreeing to accept the migrants from the Aquarius ship. The gesture contrasted with the policy under his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy whose government was often accused of only reluctantly accepting migrants.

"Spain is far from respecting the quota of migrants that has been assigned each country" by the European Commission, Spanish foreign Minister Josep Borrell said Wednesday.

The country pledged to receive 9,323 refugees who arrived in Greece and Italy but as of May 31 it had only welcomed 1,359, according to the Commission.

Spain's new Socialist government has offered to take in the 629 migrants aboard the Aquarius rescue ship that was stranded in the Mediterranean after Italy and Malta refused to let it dock

Spain's new Socialist government has offered to take in the 629 migrants aboard the Aquarius rescue ship that was stranded in the Mediterranean after Italy and Malta refused to let it dock. It is unclear if the gesture marks a change in policy in Madrid under new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez or whether it will have a "pull effect" that draws more migrants to Spain. Here are some key facts about migrant arrivals in Spain: Arrivals by sea double Since the start of the year, over 9,300 migrants reached Spain's shores by sea, more than double the figure for the same period last year, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The number of migrants who died while trying to reach Spain by sea has more than quadrupled to 244 as of June 10 from 61 last year during the same period. Most migrants travel in packed boats from Morocco's northern shore to Spain's southern coast, a distance of over 100 kilometres (60 miles) depending on the route. Spain was the third most popular destination for migrants in the European Union last year after Italy and Greece. What happens after they arrive? After passing through a police station to be identified, migrants are usually taken to one of seven longer-term immigration detention centres where they wait for up to 60 days for their fate to be decided. Some 8,800 people passed through these centres last year, according to official figures. Human rights Watch and other rights groups complain that migrants are held in poor conditions in these centres and face obstacles in applying for asylum. "A lot of people are released into the streets after 72 hours (at a police station), because currently there are no more places in the centres," Carlos Arce, migration coordinator at the Human Rights Association of Andalusia (APDHA), told AFP. These migrants are left to fend for themselves, without any follow-up or help from the government, he added. For those who manage to formally seek asylum, the system is saturated. Is there a 'siren call' risk? The government's decision to take in the migrants from the Aquarius, operated by SOS Mediterranee, has been generally well received in Spain, with dozens of cities and regions offering to give them shelter. But the conservative Popular Party which ran Spain for six years, until they were ousted in a no-confidence vote on June 1, quickly sounded the alarm that the move would act as a "siren call" for more migrants. While the number of migrants arriving in Spain by sea has doubled, in Italy arrivals by sea have dropped by 73 percent over the same period last year to 14,330 as of June 10, according to IOM figures. Change in policy? Sanchez cited "humanitarian reasons" for agreeing to accept the migrants from the Aquarius ship. The gesture contrasted with the policy under his conservative predecessor Mariano Rajoy whose government was often accused of only reluctantly accepting migrants. "Spain is far from respecting the quota of migrants that has been assigned each country" by the European Commission, Spanish foreign Minister Josep Borrell said Wednesday. The country pledged to receive 9,323 refugees who arrived in Greece and Italy but as of May 31 it had only welcomed 1,359, according to the Commission.

Migrants in Spain find difficult situation

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