More than 20 people are missing after two shipwrecks off the coast of Italy, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Monday as good weather prompted new perilous crossings of the Mediterranean.
“
Two more shipwrecks off Lampedusa with 22 people missing.
Our condolences to those who have lost loved ones at sea
,” Chiara Cardoletti, UNHCR representative in Italy, wrote on Twitter.
"
There is an urgent need to stabilize the situation in Tunisia, to reduce the number of reasons that push so many people to risk their lives at sea
," added Chiara Cardoletti.
A blurry situation
The 36 survivors of the first sinking told the Italian coast guard that 19 people on board their boat died after it partially capsized, a UNHCR press officer said.
Three other people are said to have died in a second shipwreck, Federico Fossi told AFP, adding, however, that the situation was unclear.
The Italian coast guard did not communicate about these shipwrecks and it was not immediately clear when they occurred.
The survivors of the first shipwreck, including six minors, were traveling on a seven-meter-long boat that sank in Italian waters and they were rescued by a fishing boat, according to the daily
Repubblica
.
Those rescued were from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Sudan, and had paid between 500 and 600 euros for the crossing, according to the daily La
Stampa
.
Increase in crossings
After four days of bad weather, the number of boats attempting the crossing to the Italian island of Lampedusa increased again on Sunday.
On Monday, 1,094 people were in the island's reception centre, built to accommodate just under 400 people.
According to the interior ministry, more than 36,000 people have arrived by sea in Italy this year, compared to some 9,000 during the same period last year.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has recorded 537 deaths or disappearances in the central Mediterranean (the most dangerous crossing in the world) since the start of the year.