A very heartrending incident took place in Mediterranean Sea yesterday. More than 30 people died in this boat incident. Most of them were the toddlers. The incident took place near the border of Libyan and International waters. Reports say that about 200 people fell off the overcrowded boat without life jackets. The reason for their falling off the boat is not clear. Every year thousands of people cross European border to get rid of poverty. Another reason for this large scale migration is the war between Middle East and Africa. People of these areas flee to Europe to start a new life.
Mediterranean rescue team did this rescue operation. The Italian coastal guards and British and Spanish naval ships also helped the MOAS in this operation. The co-founder of MOAS said on Twitter that their staff had been pulling bodies out of water. Most of the dead bodies were of toddlers. The coastguard said in a statement that including 34 dead bodies over 1800 people had been rescued from different boats.
More than 1300 people had died in a year at this dangerous crossing of the world. The marine experts say that this boat may have tipped due to climatic conditions and rush of people on one side. There were about 500 migrants in the boat and half of those fell off it. Another such incident also took place last Friday in which 150 people disappeared in the sea. One of the biggest reasons behind all this is the human smugglers who are doing this business openly.
Despite the efforts of Italy and European Union the number of migrants is increasing with every passing day. Last week about 7000 people crossed the sea to reach Europe. There are also reports of disputes between Libyan coastguards and aid groups. This is because of an attack on the boat on Tuesday. The forces robbed the boat and fired in the air. People jumped to save their lives. Nothing untoward happened as the migrants were wearing life jackets.
A seven summit is going to be held on Friday and Saturday in Italy. Seven major industrialized countries are taking part in this summit. The migration issue, the stabilization in Libya, and development of Africa are at the top of the agenda. Moreover, this tragedy of toddlers drowning is also a wake up call for the participants of summit.
More than 50,000 migrants have been rescued this year which shows a 46% increase than previous year. Most of the rescue operations take place at the borders of Libyan and international waters. The rescue boats are always in the sea to rescue the migrants in case of any emergency. The Libyan coastguards try to push the boats back. The humanitarian rescuers have brought more than 1000 people on board since Tuesday tragedy.
