Nearly 60 people have been killed in a wooden boat from Turkey traveling to Italy. Many of the people on the boat were Afghans, Pakistanis, Syrians and Iraqis. The boat was carrying as many as 200 people. Many of the deaths were children because they don’t know how to swim. Pope Francis mourned the victims with the 80 survivors. A member from the Red Cross said that all the survivors were adults. Rescue ships have been sent into the sea to try to find people, however it is unlikely that people will be found due to the rough conditions of the sea. There have also been helicopters and specialized divers sent out for rescue. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is trying to make stricter immigration rules. However, 14,000 migrants have entered Italy since January 1st. Juan Matias from Gil of Doctors Without Borders said, “The discretional targeting of NGOs is not going to solve the much more complex and wide issue of migration flows. But preventing us from being in the sea is going to continue contributing to more deaths.” People are fleeing from their countries because the EU isn’t offering safer options for the unsafe conditions many people are living in in the middle east, so they are forced to flee their countries due to the Taliban taking over in 2021. It would make more sense for them to migrate to Greece, but Greece has been known to push away immigrants. Therefore, they take a longer route to Italy. Greece has been pushing people away because they already have overflowing refugee camps.

Source:https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/27/dozens-of-migrants-drown-off-italys-coast/ 

Source: https://apnews.com/article/italy-migrant-deaths-119648644c6bb4ad6b2a3120c5c172b0