Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Syrian migrant attends commemorative service at harbor in Malta for immigrants who lost their lives at sea.

The deaths of up to 500 mostly Palestinian and Syrian migrants and refugees could be an act of mass murder, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said on Sept. 19. Hundreds of migrant workers and refugees from Gaza and Syrian conflicts were aboard a boat that left from the Egyptian port of Damietta and are feared dead at the hands of human traffickers who rammed and sank the boat off the Malta coast. “The callous act of deliberately ramming a boat full of hundreds of defenseless people is a crime that must not go unpunished,” the high commissioner said. “If the survivors’ accounts are indeed true—and they appear all too credible—we are looking at what amounts to mass murder in the Mediterranean.’’ According to survivors, there may have been 100 children under the age of 10 aboard the boat, among several hundred people crammed into a lower boat deck while several hundred more were on a top deck constantly exposed to the sun.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Pope Francis reads his speech to officials of the Roman Curia and the College of Cardinals during his annual pre-Christmas meeting with them in the Hall of Blessing above the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Dec. 21, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
In Francis’ 12th Christmas address to the Roman Curia, he reminded them, “An ecclesial community lives in joyful and fraternal harmony to the extent that its members walk the path of humility.”
Gerard O’ConnellDecember 21, 2024
With the opening of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis’ schedule of liturgies in December and January has expanded.
Catholic News ServiceDecember 20, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump on Dec. 20 announced his intention to appoint Brian Burch, currently the president of CatholicVote, as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.
Kate Scanlon - OSV NewsDecember 20, 2024
Despite his removal, Bishop Joseph E. Strickland has remained an outspoken detractor of Pope Francis, both online and at various events organized by Catholic laity opposed to the Holy Father.
Gina Christian - OSV NewsDecember 20, 2024