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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday he was “horrified and heartbroken” at the latest loss of lives of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean and urged governments across the world to formulate a “comprehensive” response to this crisis.
"I appeal to all governments involved to provide comprehensive responses, expand safe and legal channels of migration and act with humanity, compassion and in accordance with their international obligations," the top diplomat said in an official statement.
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The statements follow the Thursday discovery of more than 70 bodies crammed inside an abandoned truck near the Austrian border with Hungary. Ban added that the Mediterranean Sea continues to be a death trap for refugees and migrants.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Tuesday that almost 300,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean this year to reach Europe, most of them escaping war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
According to the U.N. body, 200,000 migrants went to Greece and a further 110,000 to Italy. The numbers represent a large increase from last year, when around 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean. However, Ban said it was a crisis of solidarity, not a crisis of numbers.
The U.N. head also announced plans to arrange a special meeting over migration and refugee concerns at the upcoming General Assembly on September 30, in order to address what he called a “human tragedy” that requires a determined collective political response.
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