The International Organisation for Migration urged Egypt to impose tougher penalties on human traffickers and address the concerns driving people to undertake the perilous journey. One of them is the owner of the vessel.
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It is not yet confirmed by officials but the capsized boat was believed to be going to Italy.
Initial estimates had put the number of people on board at 600. But as they climbed in, the boat began to capsize. “The boat had more people than it could take”.
“Those are the ones who drowned first, most probably stuck, and their bodies might not be retrieved anytime soon”, he said, adding, “those we found are the ones liberated from the boat”.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail pledged the government’s full support for the continuing rescue mission and said those responsible must be brought to justice.
The European Union launched “Operation Sophia” previous year to destroy smuggler boats that could be used to ferry migrants across the sea. Panic spread as the boat tilted, casting people overboard. While fisherman report seeing a few dead bodies from failed migratory crossings before, this is by far the worst in the area.
But with the boat missing for more than 25 hours, hope is fading fast. Major General Mohamed Kharisa, head of the Criminal Investigation Department in the neighbouring Al-Beheira province said that 30 bodies had been recovered at the time of writing.
It’s the latest tragedy among migrants trying to reach Europe. “This is a disaster”.
Another survivor, Ahmed Darwish, blamed people-smugglers for the tragedy, saying overcrowding caused the boat to capsize, and accused authorities of not reacting quickly enough. “Everyone is helping. All security agencies are involved”.
Arrivals in Italy this year stood at 130,411, on a par with the 132,000 people who landed over the same period in 2015, said the UNHCR.
The Egyptian military has regularly announced efforts to combat illegal immigration. They’ve continued to aid in the search up and down the coast near the town of Rashid.
More than 10,000 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014, according to the United Nations. More than 400 would-be migrants of various nationalities were arrested in that operation. Egypt’s official news agency MENA said the boat was carrying 600 people when it sank near the coast, some 180 kilometers (112 miles) north of the capital, Cairo.
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New and more unsafe smuggling practices and attempts to reach Europe by riskier routes have led to a spike in the number of migrants dying as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean, the International Organization for Migration said in a report last month.
