Pope calls for refugee aid as search for Med migrants continues

Pope Francis shakes hands with people after celebrating mass at the Santa Maria. Picture; Getty

Italy’s coast guard said only four people survived the sinking of a migrant ship carrying around 100 people that went down 30 miles off the Libyan coast on Saturday. Only eight bodies have been recovered.

In his noon blessing, Francis recalled that the theme of the church’s World Day of Migrants concerned the particular vulnerability of young migrants – “our young brothers” who often flee home alone and face “so many dangers”.

“We must adopt every possible measure to guarantee young migrants protection and defence, as well as integration,” he said.

The UN refugee agency has reported a sharp increase in the number of unaccompanied minors reaching Italy: 25,846 last year, more than double the previous year. Aid groups say if these young people survive the crossing, they are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by land-based traffickers once they reach Europe.

The International Organisation of Migration, meanwhile, says it recorded 4,576 deaths in 2016 among migrants making the central Mediterranean crossing to Italy. The total number of dead is unknown, given that many bodies are never recovered.

Two dead bodies reached Italian shores on Sunday as the rescue ship Aquarius pulled into port in Messina, Sicily with some 300 migrants from rescue operations on Friday. Two coffins were offloaded for family members to claim.

Usually, bad weather and rough seas deter Libyan-based smugglers from launching overloaded boats full of migrants bound for Italy. But Italy’s coast guard reported 550 people were rescued on Friday and another 800 on Thursday alone.

Further east, Spain’s maritime rescue service said the bodies of seven African migrants have been found dead along the Strait of Gibraltar since Friday.

The latest casualty was a woman who was found dead late on Saturday aboard a drifting boat along the coast of Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta. The rescue service said the coast is being patrolled for survivors on another drifting boat that reportedly departed from neighbouring Morocco.

Six African migrants who drowned are thought to have been on the boat, which may have shipwrecked.