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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Lorenzo Marsili

62 people are dead off the coast of Italy. How many more will anti-migrant policies kill?

Italian authorities at the scene of a shipwreck in which at least 62 people died at Steccato di Cutro, Calabria, on 26 February 2023.
Italian authorities at the scene of the shipwreck in Steccato di Cutro, Calabria, on 26 February 2023. Photograph: Alessandro Serranò/AGF/REX/Shutterstock

The photograph of the body of two-year-old Alan Kurdi lying on Turkish shores made headlines in 2015. “Never again,” cried an outraged international press, after Kurdi and his Syrian family drowned attempting to reach safety in Europe.

The latest tragedy in the Mediterranean, claiming the lives of at least 62 individuals, including children, is a stark reminder that nothing has changed. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, expressed “deep sorrow”. The Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, warned that the tragedy should leave “no one indifferent” and appealed to the European Union. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, promised to “redouble the efforts”.

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