Migrants killed in ‘religious clash’ on Mediterranean boat

The Christian migrants, said to be from Ghana and Nigeria, are all feared dead.

In a separate incident, more than 40 people drowned after another migrant boat sunk between Libya and Italy.

Almost
10,000 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean have been rescued in
recent days. Italy has called for more help from the EU to handle the
crisis.

Hundreds of migrants have died making the perilous
crossing since the start of the year. Earlier this week, about 400
people were believed to have drowned when their boat capsized.

Many of the migrants picked up by the Italian navy in recent days have been brought to shore to Sicily

In the latest sinking, the
Italian navy plucked four survivors – a Ghanaian, two Nigerians, and a
man from Niger – from the sea and took them to Sicily along with 600
other migrants trying to make the crossing in various vessels. They told
the police their inflatable boat sank not long after leaving the coast
of Libya with 45 people on board.

Meanwhile, police in Palermo say
that 15 Muslim migrants, who travelled on another boat, were arrested
on charges of “multiple aggravated murder motivated by religious hate”,
after several surviving migrants came forward and told them of an
altercation which resulted in 12 Christians being thrown overboard.

The men who have been charged come from the Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali and Guinea.

Earlier on Thursday Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Italy had “not had an adequate response from the EU”.

But the European Union has said it has no “silver bullet” for the problem of thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe.

Credit: BBC