The fate of dozens of migrants, whose boat capsized off the coast of Malta, raised serious concern on Sunday from international organizations and NGOs. The European border control agency Frontex "spotted four inflatable boats", "one of them capsized and we presume that it sank with people on board" , tweeted the association Sea-Watch International.
"Europe has abandoned them: to die at Easter. Again, " tweeted the association, which was worried on Saturday about the fate of 250 migrants embarked on four boats.
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AFP, UNHCR, the UN refugee agency and the International Office for Migration (IOM) said they were unable to confirm or deny the sinking. “We are very worried. It seems that at least one boat has turned over and there is no longer contact with another. But we have no confirmation from the authorities, " Carlotta Sami, UNHCR spokesperson in Italy, told AFP. "The current coronavirus crisis " cannot make rescue of the shipwrecked less imperative , "she added.
For his part, for the IOM, Flavio Di Giacomo, explained to AFP that "in the absence of boats present in the area, it is very difficult for the moment to confirm that there has been a sinking and the number of victims ”. “The information that has circulated is very worrying. And unfortunately, from experience, we consider it probable that there have always been shipwrecks at sea of which we are not aware, " he added.
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In a statement, another German NGO, United4Rescue assured that the boat "now not found", "had called for help by phone". "We have to reckon with dozens of deaths," feared Joachim Lenz, spokesperson for United4Rescue.
According to Flavio Di Giacomo of the IOM, "the estimate of the number of (migrants) dead in the Mediterranean is unfortunately always an estimate by default". "From the start of the year to April 8, we recorded 140 deaths in the central Mediterranean, 241 across the Mediterranean," he said.
Asked by AFP in Warsaw, Frontex did not comment on this information. Also contacted, the Maltese authorities and the Italian coast guard did not react.