The Community of Sant'Egidio has called for more legal migration channels after over 20 people died off the Italian island of Lampedusa on September 2. Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has criticized the obstacles facing NGO rescue ships.
After 21 people, including 3 children from war-torn countries like Syria and Sudan, died in a shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea on September 2, the Italy-based Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, issued a statement on September 5 calling for government action.
"We cannot limit ourselves to expressing indignation and coldly updating statistics on the victims of journeys of hope across the Mediterranean," the charity stated.
It urged "all government institutions, at both the national and European levels, to renew their commitment to rescue operations at sea and save the lives of those in danger."
Also read: Italian non-assistance likely led to shipwreck, claims NGO
'More legal channels to enter Europe'
Sant'Egidio stressed the need to "incentivize legal entry channels, including for reasons related to employment, which Italy greatly needs."
"For those fleeing countries at war," it continued, there is a need to "establish models that facilitate rescue and integration, such as humanitarian corridors, which Sant'Egidio has been implementing," alongside several other organizations, "since 2016, enabling 7,700 people to reach Europe."
The latest such arrival, it noted, was from Libya.
"Twenty refugees were evacuated from detention camps where they had suffered severe mistreatment," the charity said. "Thanks to humanitarian corridors, they were able to reach Italy by air without putting their lives in the hands of traffickers."
Also read: Syrian refugees from Lebanon arrive in Italy with Humanitarian Corridors
MSF rails against government actions towards NGO boats
Meanwhile, on September 5, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported via a statement on X that "at least 44 people have died in two shipwrecks in the Central Mediterranean, off the Libyan and Italian coasts, in the last 24 hours alone."
"Despite this, the Italian government continues to obstruct humanitarian ships with ongoing punitive measures," the statement added, referring to MSF's own vessel, the Geo Barents.
The organization also noted: "For three days, seven men clung to an upturned boat as the remaining 21 people, including three children, died at sea. One of the survivors is currently being assisted by @MSF_ITALIA in Sicily."
Also read: Over 1,000 dead and missing in the Central Mediterranean