At least 60 migrants died on Sunday when the ship they were on board crashed near the southern Italian town of Crotone in Calabria, prompting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to “redouble efforts to reform the right to asylum”, according to AFP and News.ro.

• Read also: VIDEO Tragedy in the south of Italy: dozens of people, including a baby, died after the boat sank

“Just a few minutes ago, the number of confirmed victims was 59,” Vicenzo Voce said at 4:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. Romanian time) on Sky TG-24.

According to the coast guard, the boat was carrying approximately 120 people and crashed on rocks a few meters from the coast, and firefighters say “more than 200 people”.

Pictures taken by Italian police showed fragments of wood strewn 100 meters on the beach, where there were many rescuers and rescue workers waiting to be transferred to a reception point.

Prime Minister Georgia Maloney expressed “deep pain” and believes that “it is criminal to put a boat only 20 meters long with 200 people on board and bad weather into the sea.”

“The government is determined to prevent departures and, with them, tragedies like this, and will continue to do so, demanding, first and foremost, maximum cooperation with countries of departure and origin,” Maloney assured.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday called for progress on asylum reform in the European Union (EU) after this “tragedy”.

She calls for “redoubled efforts on the Pact on Migration and the Right to Asylum and the Action Plan for the Central Mediterranean”.

The most sensitive part of this Pact, which must be concluded by the end of the mandate of the European Parliament (EP), in 2024, is aimed at the best distribution of responsibility for receiving asylum seekers among EU member states, an issue that separates them from the refugee crisis of 2015-2016.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella mourns the shipwreck that “killed dozens of people, including children.”

“A large number of these migrants arrived from Afghanistan and Iran, fleeing from very difficult conditions,” the head of state added, expressing the desire for “the firm commitment of the international community to eliminate the causes of migration: wars, persecution.” , terrorism, poverty”.

Italy, a country of entry that has received hundreds of thousands of migrants in recent years, accuses its EU partners of a lack of solidarity in distributing them, even though large numbers of them then leave the peninsula to go to other countries.

The shipwreck came just days after the far-right-dominated government’s controversial new migrant rescue regulations were passed by parliament.

Maloney, head of the far-right Fratelli d’Italia (FDI) party, led the executive coalition in October after promising to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Italy.

“Illegal immigration”

The new law requires humanitarian ships to carry out only one rescue operation at a time, which critics say increases the risk of death in the central Mediterranean, considered the world’s most dangerous crossing point for migrants.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Matteo Piantedosi, believes that this “tragedy (…) demonstrates how necessary a firm fight against underground immigration channels is.”

Italy’s geographic location makes it a privileged destination for asylum seekers crossing North Africa to Europe, and Rome has long complained about the high number of arrivals on its territory.

Nearly 14,000 migrants have landed in Italy since the start of the year, up from about 5,200 in the same period last year and up from 4,200 in 2021, according to the Interior Ministry.

However, NGOs no longer transport only a small percentage of migrants who want to reach Europe, most of whom are rescued by Coast Guard and Navy ships.

However, the government accuses NGOs of encouraging the arrival of migrants and encouraging human traffickers.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, laments “another terrible shipwreck” and believes that “it is time for states to stop debating and agree on fair, effective and joint measures to avoid further tragedies.”