SWITZERLAND: The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) appeals to NATO, EU to help prevent migrants fleeing Libya from drowning

Record ID: 348393

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) appeals to NATO, EU to help prevent migrants fleeing Libya from drowning
  • Date: 11th May 2011
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (MAY 10, 2011) (REUTERS) UNHCR SIGN AT FRONT OF BUILDING PEOPLE WALKING INTO UNHCR BUILDING SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, UNHCR, SYBELLA WILKES EMERGING FROM BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SYBELLA WILKES, SAYING "We're asking that vessels - commercial, military - remain really vigilant at this time on the understanding that there are many boats p
  • Embargoed: 26th May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland, Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA24Z67ESIGQQUKN190OF1M4WK1
  • Story Text: Hundreds of migrants fleeing fighting in Libya have drowned, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said on Tuesday (May 10) in an appeal to NATO and the European Union to intervene.
    "We're asking that vessels - commercial, military - remain really vigilant at this time on the understanding that there are many boats packed full of migrants and refugees that are escaping the violence in Libya, and in many cases these boats are in an unseaworthy condition, and we are just asking that they are extra vigilant and look out for boats in distress," senior communications officer for UNHCR, Sybella Wilkes told Reuters in Geneva following a news briefing.
    In one of the latest tragedies, migrants who arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa at the weekend told the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) they had seen a ship carrying between 500 to 600 people sinking near Tripoli late last week. It is unclear how many of those drowned.
    Even before that incident, Fleming said the UNHCR believed that from March 25, at least 800 people fleeing Libya did not make it safely to shore. Most of the migrants are from sub-Saharan Africa, according to U.N. officials.
    All vessels in the busy waters must be on the lookout for overcrowded boats and immediately raise the alarm that they are probably in distress, UNHCR said.
    "We're not, we're not just appealing to states, to NATO, we're appealing to all vessels that are on the Mediterranean that may see these boats that are very often overladen with passengers, the boats themselves in an unseaworthy condition, and to just to be extra vigilant and aware that they're likely to need rescuing," Wilkes added.
    Many of those who have managed to cross the Mediterranean safely have landed up on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa or neighbouring Linosa.
    The IOM said more than 10,000 had arrived on the islands since unrest erupted in northern Africa earlier this year, including roughly 2,000 last weekend alone. Many were disorientated and confused, including one Somali woman, who managed to swim to back to the Libyan coast after escaping from the vessel which sank. She lost her four-month-old baby and then was driven on to another boat.
    Some migrants also said they had been forced on to boats by Libyan soldiers who fired warning shots and others said that although they had not officially had to pay for their crossing, they had been stripped of their possessions and savings.
    NATO on Monday denied a report alliance units had failed to help a drifting boat carrying African migrants from Libya, leading to the death of 62 people from thirst and hunger.
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