Germany has taken in 32 survivors, including 28 Afghan migrants, from last month’s deadly migrant shipwreck off southern Italy, according to Italian and UN authorities.
The Reuters reported that these survivors will join their relatives in Germany and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has organized a charter flight to transfer them to Hamburg where they can apply for asylum.
The shipwreck on 26 February in the Calabria region resulted in the death of over 90 people, one of the deadliest sea accidents in Italian territorial waters.
Based on the reports, the police boats attempted to intercept the boat before it sank but were unable to do so due to adverse weather conditions.
Subsequent to the incident, the Interior Minister of Italy, Matteo Piantedosi, told the country’s parliament that a total of 80 people survived the accident. In light of the increasing number of sea arrivals from North Africa, Italy’s right-wing government has urged the EU members to take in more migrants.
According to Reuters, Italian authorities have faced accusations of inadequate response to stop the migrant shipwreck and failing to deploy better-equipped coast guard vessels.
The Italian authorities have denied the accusations, citing adverse weather conditions that posed significant obstacles to the search and rescue operation.
