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      At Least 289 Children Have Drowned Trying to Reach Europe This Year: UNICEF

      "Children are dying not just in front of our eyes; they are dying while we seem to keep our eyes closed," laments one UNICEF official. "Hundreds of girls and boys are drowning in the world's inaction."

      Brett Wilkins
      Jul 14, 2023

      Roughly twice as many migrant children died crossing the Mediterranean Sea during the first half of this year as during the same period in 2022, the United Nations Children's Fund reported Friday.

      In a sobering update, UNICEF said at least 289 children drowned while attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Africa into Europe during the first six months of 2023.

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      child migrants
      People seeking refuge in Europe on board a boat during a rescue operation

      Mass Death at Sea and the Right to Seek Safety

      Last week's tragedy in the Mediterranean is why peace and welcoming the most vulnerable must replace the suffering unleashed by war, violence, and poverty.

      Kathy Kelly
      Jun 22, 2023

      Through a WhatsApp message from Portugal, my friend Eunice Neves asked to share a moment with me. She was with an Afghan couple, Frishta and Mohammad, and their baby son, Arsalan. The young family has resettled in Mértola, a small city in southern Portugal. They looked forward to celebrating World Refugee Day as part of a project which the Portuguese government lauds as a model for refugee resettlement.

      I had first met Frishta in 2015 when she was a volunteer teacher, in Kabul, Afghanistan. At a school for “street kids” she helped young child laborers gain literacy and math skills, while also learning basic ideas about nonviolence. The children could be rowdy and boisterous, but when Frishta entered the classroom, they were eager to please their talented teacher. Frishta’s altruism and skill made her a target for persecution when the Taliban ascended to power. Following death threats to her and her husband, the couple fled their home just prior to the Taliban takeover of Kabul. Days later, on August 21st, 2021, Frishta gave birth to Arsalan.

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      Opinion
      Refugees
      U.S. Coast Guard Captain Jamie Frederick

      Critics Decry 'Unspeakable' Contrast Between Efforts to Save Titanic Tourists and Migrants

      "Hundreds of refugees just died on a boat that collapsed in the Mediterranean," said one journalist, "and that situation has already stopped being news on most major platforms."

      Julia Conley
      Jun 21, 2023

      As a growing international team of rescue workers held out hope that the crew and passengers of a missing submersible vessel may be signaling that they're still alive on Wednesday, human rights advocates were among those who couldn't help but notice the juxtaposition between the rescue efforts and those that were carried out last week to save hundreds of migrants who were attempting to cross the Mediterranean when their overloaded boat capsized.

      The Titan, a vessel owned by the deep sea exploration company OceanGate Expeditions in Washington State, lost contact with the ship that deployed it less than two hours after embarking on what should have been a two-and-a-half-hour journey to the Titanic in the north Atlantic Ocean. The submersible, which is 22 feet long and nine feet tall, was piloted by OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and carried four tourists who paid $250,000 each to travel to the shipwreck.

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