UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – Photo: UN
PANA
New York, US – Following reports of a second ship capsizing off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday called on the international community to protect the rights of migrants and take action to prevent such tragic incidents
PANA in New York, quoted a UN statement as saying that, “the Secretary-General is deeply saddened to hear reports of the loss of lives as another boat carrying migrants capsized on Friday off the coast of Italy.”
Ban regretted that, “Friday’s incident occurred only a few days after the tragic incident near Lampedusa which had already claimed more than 300 lives.”
He called on the international community as a whole “to take action to prevent such tragedies in future, including measures that address their root causes and places the vulnerability and human rights of migrants at the centre of the response”.
According to media reports, at least 27 people died and 221 were saved on Friday after their boat capsized near Lampedusa.
The incident occurred just over a week after more than 300 migrants, mostly Ethiopians, lost their lives when their boat caught fire half a mile from the coast, leading the vessel to capsize in the same area.
