Since 2014, over 30,300 lives have been lost in the Mediterranean. Eleven years after the deadly shipwreck off Lampedusa, Save the Children calls for urgent action to protect migrants, especially minors, as new EU policies undermine their right to asylum.
Since 2014, over 30,300 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea -- an average of eight lives lost each day.
Eleven years after the tragic shipwreck of October 3, 2013, which claimed the lives of 368 individuals, mostly Eritrean refugees, little has changed. Save the Children issued a statement urging the establishment of regular, safe pathways for migrants seeking to reach Europe, along with the activation of a search and rescue system at sea.
The organization is participating in annual commemoration events organized by the October 3 Committee in Lampedusa, which include workshops for Italian and foreign students and a roundtable discussion on border externalization and the violence faced by migrants, featuring members of Save the Children's youth group.
Read AlsoDay of remembrance, 11 years after Lampedusa shipwreck
'Lack of commitment to the protection of refugees'
The organization, moreover, stressed the need to guarantee access to fundamental rights and the protection of all minors, including unaccompanied foreign children and teens who have the right to adequate assistance and care, taking into account the trauma they have experienced as well as their hopes and dreams.
"With wars and conflicts advancing in a very quick way, what we are witnessing with deep sorrow is a lack of commitment to international treaties and the global protection system for refugees, asylum seekers by European institutions and member States", said Antonella Inverno, the official in charge of research, analysis and training at Save the Children.
'EU Asylum and Migration Pact undermines right to asylum of minors'
Inverno highlighted that a security-focused approach has made conditions for children and teenagers, especially unaccompanied minors, "more precarious and dangerous." In the spring of 2024, the European Parliament and the Council finalized a package of reforms under the European Asylum and Migration Pact, which she criticized for undermining the right to asylum for minors and families, exposing them to risks of detention, pushbacks, and violence at the borders.
According to the official, "the Union and Member States should now focus on implementing with a central approach the respect of the human rights of minors. On the contrary, we are seeing a number of accords signed, like the one with Albania, that put people at risk of prolonged and automatic detention, lack of access to asylum procedures and delayed landings."
The internal and external borders of the European Union have become perilous transit zones where violence, abuse, and human rights violations occur daily, as documented along the routes leading to Europe," Inverno concluded.
Read AlsoEU agency finds 'widespread rights violations' at borders