UN demands urgent action after Greece migrant boat tragedy
- On Wednesday, a fishing boat overloaded with migrants capsized and sank off the Peloponnese, killing at least 78 people, with hundreds believed to be on board
- UN agencies for refugees and migrants called for ‘urgent and decisive action to prevent further deaths at sea following the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean’
The United Nations called on Friday for in-depth investigations into the migrant boat sinking off Greece this week, believed to have left hundreds dead, and urgent action to prevent further tragedies.
On Wednesday, a fishing boat overloaded with migrants capsized and sank off the Peloponnese, killing at least 78 people. Around 104 people were found alive.
While the number of people on board at the time remains unclear, the UN pointed on Friday to various witness accounts suggesting it was somewhere between 400 and 750.
The UN agencies for refugees and migrants called in a joint statement for “urgent and decisive action to prevent further deaths at sea following the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean, the worst in several years”.
They insisted states had an obligation to come together to address the dangerous gaps in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, pointing out that “the duty to rescue people in distress at sea without delay is a fundamental rule of international maritime law”.
In particular, they rejected efforts to criminalise those who try to help in such situations, reiterating that “search and rescue at sea is a legal and humanitarian imperative”.