Around 400 migrants attempting to make the journey from troubled Libya to Italy are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after their boat capsized soon after departure on April 12. Italian coastguards said that they rescued 145 people on the capsized vessel and discovered 9 bodies.
The survivors, who arrived in Italy on Tuesday, were cited by the charity Save the Children in its statement as saying about 400 of people on the same boat died 24 hours after their boat left the Libyan coast.
About 9 000 migrants have been rescued since April 9, and the authorities fear more boats are heading for the Italian coast.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Laurens Jolles told the BBC the capacity to rescue was not as strong as it had to be and a far greater response was needed.
Out of 280,000 migrats reaching the EU in 2014, approximately 170 000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean to Italy in 2014, with 3 500 people drowned .
Libya hasn’t have a stable government since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
People smuggling still remains a lucrative business for traffickers, with the survivors saying they were charged between USD 500-USD 1 000 for the dangerous journey.
Smugglers usually abandon vessels in the hands of untrained migrants and leave on speedboats.
