In 2024, over 2,200 people died or went missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean in search of refuge in Europe, according to UNICEF’s regional director for Europe and Central Asia, Regina De Dominicis. The tragic toll rose further on New Year’s Eve when 20 individuals were reported missing after falling overboard from a boat taking on water in rough seas about 20 miles off Libya’s coast.
Despite the perilous conditions, seven survivors, including an eight-year-old Syrian boy, managed to stay aboard the sinking vessel until an Italian police patrol boat rescued them near Lampedusa on Tuesday night. Witnesses reported that the 6-meter boat, which had departed from Zuwara, Libya, late Monday night, began taking on water five hours into the journey, triggering panic.
In a separate incident the same day, two people, including a five-year-old child, died when their boat broke down near northern Tunisia, leaving 17 survivors.
De Dominicis highlighted that nearly 1,700 of the year’s fatalities occurred on the central Mediterranean route, with children accounting for one-fifth of migrants crossing the sea. Most were fleeing violence and poverty.
The dangers of the journey were underscored in December when rescuers found an 11-year-old girl clinging to tyre tubes after spending three days at sea following a shipwreck presumed to have claimed 40 lives. In November, the German NGO Sea-Watch accused the Italian coastguard of negligence over a September shipwreck near Lampedusa that killed 21 people, alleging delayed rescue efforts despite prior warnings.
Alarm Phone, a distress hotline for migrants, reported at least four boats capsizing in the central Mediterranean since Tuesday. This route, among the world’s deadliest, has claimed over 25,500 lives since 2014, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration. Many of the victims set out from Tunisia or Libya, despite agreements between the EU, Italy, and these countries to curb migrant departures.
Italy remains a key entry point for migrants, though arrivals in 2024 dropped to 66,317—less than half the previous year—partly attributed to the hardline policies of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government. Measures include a €670m deal with Albania to transfer 3,000 intercepted migrants monthly for asylum processing. However, legal hurdles have hampered the initiative’s effectiveness.
The EU’s deal with Libya has also faced criticism for returning migrants to detention camps where they endure torture and abuse. In September, media reported severe mistreatment of migrants in Tunisia, underscoring the ongoing human rights crisis faced by those attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing.
