SW News: According to the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Missing Migrants Project, 441 migrants perished in the Central Mediterranean during the first three months of 2023, making it the worst first quarter since 2017.

Reports of a delayed state-led rescue response and restricted NGO search and rescue (SAR) efforts in the central Mediterranean have emerged at a time when lives are being lost on the world's most perilous maritime passage.

IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino called the humanitarian situation in the central Mediterranean "unbearable," noting that "since 2014, this route has witnessed over 26,358 deaths, and I am concerned that these deaths have become routine." He put it this way, "State-led SAR delays and gaps kill people."

Delays in state-led rescues on the Central Mediterranean route have contributed to six catastrophes this year, killing a minimum of 127 people. As many as 73 migrants were killed because there was no reaction to the seventh episode. SAR initiatives undertaken by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have lately been substantially reduced.

Tens of thousands of migrants have attempted treacherous crossings across the Mediterranean Sea from the coastlines of northern Africa and Turkey in an effort to enter Europe illegally or in quest of safety since at least the mid-1990s.

Vitorino said that government authorities must take proactive efforts to decrease maritime fatalities. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has urged proactive state-led cooperation in search and rescue operations, highlighting the need for coordinated, focused measures to save lives and safely disembark migrants.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) emphasized in a statement that all vessels, including commercial vessels, have a legal obligation to assist sinking vessels and urged greater cooperation to dismantle human trafficking networks and prosecute those who profit from migrants' and refugees' desperation by facilitating dangerous voyages.