According to the United Nations refugee agency, as many as 500 migrants may have drowned in the Mediterranean in mid-April after human traffickers crammed people onto a ship already packed with migrants, causing the boat to sink. The Somali government says that up to 200 Somalis may have been on board.
In a separate incident, more than 200 migrants were picked up at sea by a joint Italian-Greek rescue operation. Most of the migrants were from Eritrea, Egypt, Sudan, and Syria.
A report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says that 5,000 refugees leave Eritrea each month.
To read the full article on the migrant drownings, go to: http://www.euronews.com/2016/04/21/up-to-500-migrants-may-have-drowned-in-mediterranean-unhcr/ [1]
To read the full article on the UN refugee agency report about Eritrea, go to: http://allafrica.com/stories/201604260150.html [2]
Photo credit: Italian Coast Guard/Massimo Sestini