2 small children die in Mediterranean migration voyage, charity says

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Four people, including two small children, have died during a migration voyage in the Mediterranean, a German charity involved in their rescue said.

The nonprofit group RESQSHIP said that dozens of migrants had departed western Libya on a flimsy rubber boat with a failing engine. Three days later, on Saturday afternoon, the group’s civilian vessel NADIR found 62 of them in international waters where Malta is responsible for search and rescue.

By the time the group reached them, two children aged 3 and 4 were dead and a third person was found unconscious and died, it said. Survivors also reported that a fourth person had drowned during the journey.

An Italian coast guard vessel arrived four hours later, according to the German charity, and evacuated six people in critical condition, including two babies and their mothers, as their boat was already full with other rescued migrants. The rest of the survivors, many suffering from skin burns caused by the harmful mixture of sea water and fuel, were taken to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

“This tragedy could have been avoided. It is yet another example of the failure of European migration policies,” RESQSHIP said in a statement. “Instead of coordinating support and facilitating safe passages, Europe is abandoning defenceless people – with deadly consequences. Children dying of thirst on the move is an inexcusable political failure.”

Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the Maltese Armed Forces did not immediately return questions sent by email from The Associated Press.

The Mediterranean Sea is the world’s deadliest migration route with nearly 32,000 recorded fatalities since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration. This year alone, at least 565 migrants have died on the sea crossing to Europe.

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