May 2007 Malta migrant shipwreck
On Monday, 21 May 2007, a small and crowded
The state of peril in which the occupants of the boat found themselves at the time of their discovery was further confirmed by a cellphone call made by one occupant to a relative in Italy on the same day of 21 May, when the boat's engine was said to have stopped, with water coming into the boat.[1]
The event was the largest single disaster in terms of loss of life and involving migrant boats in the waters around Malta, a leading destination for migrants from Africa, until August 2008, when 71 migrants in one boat were feared drowned according to the accounts made by the eight survivors.[2]
Background
Around 1,700 migrants land on Malta every year and due to the particular conditions of the sea journey they risk, it is very difficult to advance theories on what would have happened and to how many people when something goes wrong between Malta and the
Most migrants try to reach further, particularly to Italy. In a further dimension, the arrival of illegal migrants became an issue between neighboring countries of the
Those who remain in Malta try to pick up employment opportunities in the country's very limited labour market and they spark and fuel explicit
References
- ^ "Migrant boat missing off Malta". BBC News. 2007-05-21.
- ^ "Malta fears 71 migrants drowned". BBC News. 2008-08-27.
- ^ "Malta struggles with migrants". BBC News. 2007-07-09.
- ^ "Migrants stranded at sea on Spanish tug-boat". Reuters. 2007-07-09.
- UNHCR. 2007-09-21.