EU mulls emergency summit after another migrant boat tragedy

European Union foreign ministers are set to meet in Luxembourg to discuss the growing crisis of refugee deaths in the Mediterranean after a smuggler’s boat sank off the Libyan coastline. Officials say at least 700 people are feared dead after the boat capsized and sank in the Mediterranean Sea. But Italian prosecutors, citing a survivor, say as many as 950 could have been on board the vessel. The Bangladeshi survivor told Italian authorities that hundreds of people had been locked in the hold of the vessel by the smugglers.

We have said too many times ‘never again.’ Now is time for the European Union as such to tackle these tragedies without delay.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini

The death toll has led to demands for a more coordinated European response to what Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has described as a “plague in our continent”. Britain’s Foreign Minister Philip Hammond will join his European counterparts in Luxembourg later today where leaders are expected to discuss the issue of people smugglers. Responding to the latest tragedy, Mr Hammond said he was horrified by the death toll and the “vile trade” of smuggling. He added that stopping the smuggling trade “demands a comprehensive, coordinated response” which targets traffickers.

It seems we are looking at the worst massacre ever seen in the Mediterranean.

UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami

World Migrants