More than 60 people have died after a wooden boat believed to be carrying refugees crashed off the coast of Italy’s Calabria region. Twelve of the refugees who died were children.
“Wooden debris from the shattered boat was still being buffeted by rough seas, pushed up along the coast and strewn across the beach in southern Italy on Monday morning — grim evidence of the tragic end of a journey that scores of people hoped would deliver them to a better life,” CBS News reported.
The vessel had set sail from Turkey several days ago with refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and several other countries, and crashed on Sunday in stormy weather near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria, Al Jazeera reported.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni “has concentrated on complicating efforts by humanitarian boats to make multiple rescues in the central Mediterranean by assigning them ports of disembarkation along Italy’s northern coasts. That means the vessels need more time to return to the sea after bringing migrants aboard and taking them safely to shore.” (NPR).
The Immigration and Refugee News Digest 