Tag: migrants

Recommendations for encountering distressed persons at sea in Mediterranean

Investigators from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have obtained eyewitness testimony of a tragic incident in which as many as 500 migrants were drowned when their vessel was deliberately sunk in the Mediterranean.

The UN refugee agency on Tuesday said it was deeply saddened at a rising death toll from boat accidents in the Mediterranean Sea this year as increasing numbers of asylum-seekers and refugees make the journey on unseaworthy boats, often at the hands of ruthless smugglers.

IMO, ICS and UNHCR have joinlty prepared a leaflet to provide guidance on relevant legal provisions, and on practicalprocedures to ensure the prompt disembarkation of survivors of rescue operations, and measures to meet their specific needs, particularly in the case of refugees and asylum-seekers.