More than 90 migrants drowned in accident

More than 90 migrants drowned in a boating accident in the Mediterranean. The announcement was made by Médecins Sans Frontières and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi over the weekend. According to the information, the oil tanker Alegria 1 was only able to save four survivors of a floating lifeboat. Survivors reported that they spent at least four days on a boat that was completely overcrowded with around 100 passengers and then sank. More than 90 people drowned. They left Libya for Europe.

“Europe has shown how it can selflessly and effectively welcome four million refugees from Ukraine,” Grandi wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Now we urgently need to think about how to do the same for the other refugees and migrants who are knocking on doors in their distress.”

The new disaster became known on the same weekend that Pope Francis in Malta had expressed clear criticism of the treatment of refugees in the Mediterranean. On Sunday, the head of the Catholic Church encountered migrants during his visit to the island and later spoke of a “shipwreck of civilization”. He urged Europe to better share the burden and not leave countries like Malta alone. However, the smallest EU country is repeatedly criticized by aid organizations for pushing people in need away.