84 missing after boat sinks off Libya

84 missing after boat sinks off Libya
Scores of people are still missing after an inflatable boat sank off the coast of Libya, according to testimonies gathered by the International Organisation for Migration on Saturday.
4 min read
30 April, 2016
Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty have reached Europe on boats [Getty]

Eighty-four people are still missing after an inflatable craft sank off the coast of Libya, according to survivors cited by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on Saturday.

"According to testimonies gathered by IOM in Lampedusa 84 people went missing," said IOM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo on his Twitter feed.

An Italian cargo ship had rescued 26 people from the flimsy boat that sank on Friday. They were questioned overnight.

The coastguard received a call from a satellite phone late on Friday that helped locate the stricken inflatable and called on the merchant ship to make a detour to the area about four miles (seven kilometres) off the Libyan coast near Sabratha.

The vessel was able to pick up 26 people from the boat that was deflating and taking on water and searched in vain for others.

Similar inflatable boats can carry as many as 100 people but the coastguard was not able to confirm the number on board.

The nationalities of the migrants, who were transferred to a coastguard vessel and taken to the Italian island of Lampedusa, were not immediately known.

Healthcare cards for migrants

The latest tragedy comes as Italy's health minister Beatrice Lorenzin announces her country will start to issue healthcare cards to migrants.

"The cards will contain the migrant's health data and will enable us to track the healthcare of those entering Europe," she said.

"From a security standpoint, it will increase the traceability of people.''

The cards will contain the migrant's health data and will enable us to track the healthcare of those entering Europe
- Beatrice Lorenzin

The card is part of the EU's Care project – led by Italy's National Health Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (INMP) – and will be issued first in the Lampedusa and Trapani hotspots starting from July.

According to Lorenzin, the card will make it possible to avoid unnecessary healthcare measures when migrants go from one country to another as part of the broader EU Care program, in which Italy, Greece, Malta, Croatia and Slovenia are taking part.

The Care project includes exams to determine the age of the migrants and a statistics-based software system making it possible to assess the risk of certain illnesses in migrants on arrival at the hotspots.

Fingerprinting at sea

Earlier this week, Rome unveiled plans to fingerprint migrants crossing the Mediterranean as soon as they are picked up by rescue boats.

There have long been tensions with other EU countries over migrants arriving in Italy and travelling north without being registered.

More than 350,000 people fleeing conflict and poverty have
reached Italy on boats from Libya since the start of 2014 [Getty]

Under the EU's much-criticised Dublin Treaty, asylum claims must be processed by the first country in which refugees arrive.

Italy was warned last year by the European Commission that it must make its registration procedures more efficient.

Amid fears that warmer weather will bring another spike in migrant arrivals in coming months, Italy is pushing a plan to introduce NATO naval patrols off Libya in time for the summer – peak season for people smuggling.

Modelled on an existing NATO operation in waters between Turkey and Greece, the plan has been backed by US President Barack Obama and is expected to be approved by alliance leaders at a summit in Warsaw in July.

Italy has also proposed an EU-funded scheme to offer African countries cash to cooperate with the fast-track repatriation of migrants deemed to have no claim to asylum in Europe.

'Increasingly restrictive'

On Thursday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon hit out at what he called "increasingly restrictive" refugee policies in Europe as the continent faces its worst migrant crisis in decades.

Ban also said he was "alarmed by the growing xenophobia here" and elsewhere in Europe, in a speech to the Austrian parliament.

"I am concerned that European countries are now adopting increasingly-restrictive immigration and refugee policies," Ban told lawmakers.

I am concerned that European countries are now adopting increasingly-restrictive immigration and refugee policies
- Ban Ki-moon

"Such policies negatively affect the obligation of member states under international humanitarian law and European law," he added.

"Divisiveness and marginalisation hurt individuals and undermine security."

Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty have reached Italy on boats from Libya since the start of 2014, as Europe battles its biggest migration crisis since World War II.

Agencies contributed to this report