Guterres, frightened by shipwreck in Greece, calls for more measures

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was horrified Wednesday after a migrant ship sank off the coast of Greece, killing at least 79 people, advocating increased security measures for migrants.

“This is another example that Member States must come together and create orderly and safe routes for people forced to flee (…) to save lives at sea and reduce dangerous journeys,” the Portuguese diplomat stressed in his speech. press secretary Stephane Dujarric.

According to Dujarric, the UN leader insists that “all those who aspire to a better life need dignity and security.”

The Greek government has declared three days of mourning after a fishing boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank in southwestern Greece, one of the worst disasters of its kind to hit the region.

According to the latest balance sheet, the Greek Coast Guard said it found 79 bodies and rescued about 100 people, but survivors said there were nearly 750 people on board.

An extensive rescue operation began this Wednesday morning and saved a total of 104 people, four of whom were hospitalized in Kalamata, a city in southern Peloponnese, the Coast Guard added.

Greek TV channels showed footage of survivors wrapped in gray blankets and wearing face masks leaving a yacht that had gone to rescue them on the high seas, labeled George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands. Others were carried out on stretchers.

Information about the nationality, gender and age of these people has not yet been received.

The waters off the coast of Greece have been the site of many migrant boats, often in poor condition and overcrowded, but it was the biggest loss of life so far since at least 320 people died or set sail on June 3, 2016. went missing when their boat sank at sea.

The Greek Coast Guard explained that at the time of the tragedy, on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, 47 nautical miles (87 km) from Pylos, in the Ionian Sea, none of the migrants on board the fishing boat were equipped for life. jacket.

The ship was spotted on Tuesday afternoon by a plane from Frontex, the European border and coastal security agency, but the migrants on board “refused any assistance,” according to an earlier statement from Greek port authorities.

In addition to the patrol boats of the port police, a Greek Navy frigate, an aircraft and an Air Force helicopter, as well as six boats cruising in the area, took part in the rescue operation.

According to authorities, the wreck was heading from Libya to Italy.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 44 people have drowned in the eastern Mediterranean since the beginning of the year. Last year, the number of deaths in this way amounted to 372 people.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “deeply saddened” and defended on Twitter that EU member states should “continue to work together with (…) third countries to prevent such tragedies.”

The Greek mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) described the incident as “an unthinkable tragedy”, also stressing that these deaths could have been avoided if safer migration routes had been created in the Mediterranean.