Last week, a tragic shipwreck in the Mediterranean left 41 migrants, including three children, missing and feared dead, as reported by UN agencies. The incident occurred after their metal boat capsized due to bad weather, having departed from Tunisia's Sfax port.

Four survivors, consisting of a lone 13-year-old boy, a woman, and two men, were rescued after days of drifting at sea and were brought to Italy's Lampedusa island by the Italian coastguard.

The survivors, originally from Ivory Coast and Guinea, were found to be in relatively good health and were unrelated to the missing migrants. This shipwreck is part of a series of deadly incidents recently reported. On Monday, officials confirmed 16 migrants were dead in shipwrecks near Tunisia and Western Sahara. Additionally, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicated that at least 30 individuals were missing following two shipwrecks near Lampedusa on Sunday.

Lampedusa, situated about 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Tunisia, often serves as the first destination for migrants journeying from North Africa to Europe. Sadly, many do not survive this perilous route, rendering the Central Mediterranean migrant crossing one of the world's most deadly. In 2023, over 1,800 individuals have lost their lives attempting this route, a figure more than double the fatalities recorded during the same period in the previous year.

The four survivors informed the Red Cross that they managed to survive by clinging to inner tubes. A statement from the EU's border patrol agency, Frontex, indicated that there might be additional survivors from their boat.

On Tuesday morning, a Frontex aircraft identified "a metal boat carrying four individuals" in an area where Libyan search and rescue operations are conducted. The boat was in a state of "drifting", prompting Frontex to alert authorities. Subsequently, the four survivors were rescued by a merchant ship and later transferred to an Italian coastguard vessel.

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'Sent to slaughter'

IOM press officer Flavio Di Giacomo stated that the migrants' boat would have been ill-equipped for the kind of bad weather seen in the Central Mediterranean in the past week.

"Sub-Saharan migrants (leaving from Tunisia) are forced to use these low-cost iron boats which break after 20 or 30 hours of navigation," he told AFP on Wednesday.

"With this kind of sea, these boats capsize easily. It is very likely that there are many more shipwrecks than those we know about -- that is the real fear."

People traffickers who sent migrants to sea in such conditions are "more criminal than usual... totally without scruples," he added.

An inquiry has been initiated into the shipwrecks that occurred on Sunday, with investigations taking place in Agrigento, located on the Italian island of Sicily. Emanuele Ricifari, the head of police in Agrigento, stated that the smugglers would have been aware of the predicted adverse weather conditions.

"Whoever allowed them, or forced them, to leave with this sea is an unscrupulous criminal lunatic," he told Italian media at the weekend.

It had been "sending them to slaughter with this sea," he added.

Interior Ministry statistics reveal that nearly 94,000 migrants have arrived on Italy's coastline in the current year, a stark increase from the approximately 45,000 recorded during the equivalent period last year.

In their joint statement on Wednesday, the UN agencies reiterated their plea for "coordinated efforts in search and rescue operations" in the Central Mediterranean. Additionally, they emphasized the necessity for additional secure and lawful pathways for migrants and refugees to enter Europe. This, they believe, would prevent individuals from embarking on perilous journeys in their quest for safety and sanctuary.
 
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