Over 2,200 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean in 2024, with nearly 1,700 lives lost along the central Mediterranean route, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Regina De Dominicis said on last Thursday.
De Dominicis, who is the special coordinator for the response to refugees and immigrants in Europe, said the victims included hundreds of children and teenagers.
“This includes hundreds of children, who make up one in five of all people migrating through the Mediterranean. The majority are fleeing violent conflict and poverty,” De Dominicis emphasized
The figures were released after a shipwreck on New Years’ Eve in which some 20 people who had departed from Libya were reported missing.
“The seven survivors, including an eight-year-old boy who lost his mother, were taken to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa and later transferred to a hosting center in Agrigento, Sicily.” She said.
