The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and Italy’s coastguard said only 28 people had survived the Sunday sinking. There were children, men, and women. A total of 17 boats scoured the area for survivors on Sunday. Pope Francis expressed his “deepest sorrow” over the sinking: “These are men and women like us who seek a better life. Hungry, persecuted, injured, exploited, victims of wars. They were looking for happiness,” he said. The EU announced an emergency meeting of foreign and interior ministers to discuss what Amnesty International described as an avoidable “man-made tragedy”. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said: “We need to save human lives all together, as all together we need to protect our borders and to fight the trafficking of human beings.” The migrants seeking to reach Europe are generally fleeing conflict or persecution in places such as Eritrea, Afghanistan and Syria, or poverty and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
