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Israeli media: Intense US efforts are being made to resolve differences, such as the issue of the Israeli presence on Mount Hermon and in southern Syria
Israeli media: The security agreement means amending the disengagement agreement, which will also address the Druze issue
Israeli media: Attempts to reach a security agreement between 'Israel' and Syria were among the topics discussed at the Paris meeting
Israeli media: Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif rejected a US proposal to join the recent tripartite meeting between Tom Barrack, al-Shaibani, and Dermer
Saba News Agency: Two martyred, five injured in a preliminary toll of the Israeli aggression on the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street in Sanaa
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: We observed a state of confusion among the enemy's aircraft squadron after Yemeni air defenses intercepted the attack
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: The Yemeni air defense forces succeeded in neutralizing a squadron of enemy aircraft and prevented airstrikes on some governorates
Senior Yemeni military source to Al Mayadeen: Our air defenses and missile forces forced a formation of enemy aircraft to flee the airspace
Member of the Ansar Allah Political Bureau, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti: The Israeli aggression on Yemen will not deter us from continuing to support Gaza, no matter the sacrifices
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Israeli aggression targeted the Yemeni Oil Company station on Al-Sitteen Street, southwest of the capital, Sanaa, with several raids

Thousands of migrants remain unidentified, missing in Mediterranean

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Washington Post
  • 25 Sep 2023 15:12
  • 1 Shares
3 Min Read

A new report by the Washington Post sheds light on migrants who went missing in the Mediterranean with inadequate identification efforts, leaving families in anguish.

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  • Migrants sit in a life raft off the waters of Tunisia early Wednesday, May 25, 2022 (AP)
    Migrants sit in a life raft off the waters of Tunisia early Wednesday, May 25, 2022 (AP)

Over the past decade, the Mediterranean Sea, separating Europe from the MENA region, has transformed into a theater of mass tragedy. Of the over 2 million migrants from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East who have undertaken the perilous journey, at least 28,000 remain missing.

A recent report by The Washington Post details the tragedies that irregular migration has claimed in the Mediterranean.

The first quarter of 2023 marked the deadliest period in the central Mediterranean since 2017, as reported by the International Organization for Migration. Director General António Vitorino expressed his deep concern that these deaths may have "been normalized".

Read more: French authorities wary of migration influx: reports

Shockingly, of the known deceased, only 13 percent of the bodies are ever recovered by European authorities, as estimated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The vast majority of those who perish are never identified. The chances of a relative receiving confirmation of their missing loved one's death are as slim as winning the lottery, as described by a humanitarian official. 

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"It’s certainly more challenging than, say, a domestic air crash, but with the right will, it can be done," said Cristina Cattaneo, a professor of forensic pathology at the University of Milan, who works tirelessly to identify the bodies of migrants recovered by Italian authorities. 

However, Cattaneo's Labanof laboratory receives no state funding. European governments allocate minimal resources for the recovery, preservation, and identification of human remains arriving on their shores.

Read more: Four Tunisians arrested for piracy over migrant boat engine thefts

"You collect all the information that you need and put it in your data," she explains. "The difficult part is looking for the relative, but it's not impossible."

"People are voluntarily and consciously turning their heads from the problem," remarks Cattaneo, highlighting the dire need for coordinated efforts to address the ongoing Mediterranean migrant crisis.

In Italy and Greece, limited coordination exists among different offices and regions handling cases of missing migrants.

An agreement from 2018 between Italy, Malta, Greece, and Cyprus to share forensic information with the European Commission has yet to be fully realized.

Read more: Over 870 migrants cross English Channel in 15 boats in one day

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  • Italy
  • Malta
  • Greece
  • Mediterranean Sea

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