Who still cares about the deaths in the Mediterranean?
At least 74 people have drowned in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast. According to the UN's International Organization for Migration, 120 migrants were on board. In an accident the day before, the Open Arms aid organization was able to save 110 people, but one baby died shortly after being rescued from the sea. Italian journalists deplore the lack of interest in the fate of migrants.
Compassion for half a minute
The tragic images will not change anything, Corriere della Sera criticises:
“We share a mother's pain for a few seconds, for the duration of the video, in this case exactly 28 seconds, watching this woman shivering, clinging to an orange boat, hearing her call: 'Where is my baby, I lose my baby...' as the child is rescued from the water - too late. That is all we have left to say and do. Nothing. Clearly there is no word that will move any of the institutional figures who have a responsibility to put an end to this daily massacre, or to at least try to do so. We will only hear the usual phrases once more - that they must be helped at home, that a political solution must be found - before they go back to business as usual.”
Don't lose sight of this tragedy
The pandemic must not serve as an excuse for indifference, La Stampa warns:
“Inundated by the sheer amount of information about the number of Covid-19 victims, the deaths in the sea between Italy, Tunisia and Libya hardly make headlines anymore - nor do they arouse emotions. Only the death of a child, a six-month-old baby who died after being picked up by a ship belonging to the Spanish NGO Open Arms, can still cause consternation. Yet the dead are the dead. The tragedy that continues to unfold in the Mediterranean deserves more attention so that action can be taken to at least reduce its dimensions. And so that those who help the people in danger can act and receive recognition and support.”