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Record Number of Refugees Dying as Cold Starts Taking Lives

Record Number of Refugees Dying as Cold Starts Taking Lives
folder_openEurope... access_time7 years ago
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Local Editor

Refugees are dying of hypothermia as thousands continue desperate attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea in plummeting temperatures and worsening winter weather.

Record Number of Refugees Dying as Cold Starts Taking Lives

While European leaders have hailed the "success" of a deal aiming to stop migrant boats being launched from Turkey to Greece, the number of asylum seekers taking the longer and more treacherous route from Libya to Italy has increased dramatically.

More than 4,700 refugees have died attempting sea journeys to Europe this year, of drowning, fuel inhalation and suffocation in overcrowded dinghies. Now, the cold itself is taking lives.

At least two women have been killed by hypothermia in the past week. Rescuers with the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF] said it was the first time they had seen refugees die from the condition.

Helmi Emmen, a nurse on the Aquarius search and rescue ship, said they were found on a rubber dinghy packed with around 120 migrants off the coast of Libya on Sunday.

It was only after around 60 people had been rescued from the boat that medics saw two women lying on the floor. One was not breathing and was pronounced dead following attempts at CPR on the deck.

The Italian coast guard discovered 11 more bodies in another boat on Tuesday, while a commercial ship carrying out a separate rescue found three people dead.

As well as the danger of boats capsizing or starting to sink in rough seas, several disasters this year have been caused by fuel spills giving off toxic fumes and causing severe chemical burns.

Many refugees are weakened by malnutrition, disease and injuries from Libya, where many are detained, beaten and tortured by gangs exploiting thousands of migrants trapped in the country by its ongoing war.

Source: The Independent, Edited by website team

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