The Italian Navy has mobilized as part of Operation Mare Nostrum for search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean and off the Libyan coast [Xinhua]
The Italian coast guard said on Sunday that it had managed to rescue only four people after a boat carrying more than 100 refugees capsized in very choppy waters off the coast of Libya.
This is the worst accident involving refugees in 2017 so far, said the International Organization of Migration (IOM).
“The bodies of eight people have been recovered. Four people have been saved, and they say 107 migrants were onboard the boat,” a statement from the coast guard said.
The Italian coast guard and two vessels operated by humanitarian activists did, however, rescue about 800 refugees who were trying to cross the Mediterranean to Greece or Italy.
IOM says that at least 5,000 refugees drowned or died as they tried to cross the Mediterranean in 2016.
The plight of refugees, which captured world headlines during much of 2015, has not eased since the European Union attempted to find solutions to halt the dangerous sea trek.
Italian authorities say that more than 180,000 refugees landed on its shores in 2016.
Recently, the struggle of refugees facing harsh winter weather in Greece has reignited the debate about their fate.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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