World
Survivors and families of 94 migrants who died in shipwreck off Italy call for truth a year later
CROTONE, Italy (AP) — Survivors and family members of victims of a tragic shipwreck a year ago that killed 94 migrants, including 35 minors, just a few meters off Italy’s southern coast, returned for three days of commemorations ending Monday, calling for truth and justice.
A torchlight vigil, a photo exhibition and a protest march were among events at the nearby town of Crotone organized by a group of activists named Network Feb. 26 after the date of the tragedy. Most of the dead hailed from countries in the Middle East or South Asia.
“One year after the carnage, their right to the truth, to justice and to be reunited with their families has not been guaranteed yet,” the group wrote on its Facebook page.
On Feb. 26 last year, a wooden boat departed from Turkey carrying about 200 migrants and sank just a few meters (yards) off the coast of southern Calabria while trying to land on the seaside resort beach of Steccato di Cutro.
Network Feb. 26 includes over 400 associations that have repeatedly asked the Italian government to seek the truth about one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.
The group has denounced repeated policy failures and alleged violations of human rights by Italian and EU authorities, seen as the main cause behind the long string of deaths of migrants who face risky trips to reach European coasts in their search for a better life.
Activists have also complained that some of the relatives and survivors were denied the right to return to Crotone for the anniversary of the shipwreck, due to difficulties in obtaining proper documents.
“When we met (Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni ) in Rome after the tragedy, (she) promised that her staff would (work) to reunite us and our families, but that has never happened,” said Haroon Mohammadi, 24, a survivor from Herat, Afghanistan, who lost some of his friends in the shipwreck.
Mohammadi now lives in Hamburg, Germany, where he has obtained a one-year residence permit, and hopes to continue to study economics at a university there.
“It’s very difficult for me to be back here, but I came to honor friends and relatives we’ve lost. … We became like a family following that day,” he told The Associated Press.
Many of the dead and survivors had fled Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Syria, hoping to join family members in Italy and other Western European countries.
After the shipwreck, the right-wing government of Meloni approved a decree establishing a new crime — people smuggling that causes the death of migrants — punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and pledged to further toughen its battle against illegal immigration.
On Sunday, hundreds of people, including a group of about 50 survivors and relatives of the victims, marched in Crotone despite heavy rain with a banner asking to “stop deaths at sea.” Demonstrators also stopped to pay homage in front of PalaMilone, a sports complex that hosted the victims’ caskets.
On Saturday, Crotone’s Pitagora Museum inaugurated a photo exhibit titled “Dreams Cross the Sea,” featuring 94 photographs, one for each of the victims.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
In the early hours of Feb. 26, the boat named Summer Love sank just a few meters (yards) from the coast of the southern Calabria region, while trying to land on the nearby beach. Authorities say the shipwreck resulted in the deaths of at least 94 of the 200 on board. Eighty passengers survived and about 10 were considered missing. Dozens of young children were onboard and almost none survived.
The shocking accident raised several questions over how EU border agency Frontex and the Italian coastguard responded to it.
Six days after the tragedy, Meloni told journalists that “no emergency communication from Frontex reached Italian authorities,” who she said were not warned that the vessel was in danger of sinking.
However, a Frontex incident report later indicated that Italian authorities told the EU agency at the time of the sighting that the case was not considered an emergency.
The Cutro shipwreck soon became a stark illustration of the fatal dangers faced by migrants as they try to reach European coasts on overcrowded and fragile boats, after paying smugglers for costly trips.
A total of 2,571 migrants died at sea in 2023, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration. Nearly 100 people have been reported missing or dead in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2024, more than double the toll recorded last year during the same period, the IOM said.
RAGE AND HOPE
Over the past year, Cutro survivors and relatives of the victims have voiced their rage, stressing that the tragedy could have been avoided if authorities reacted earlier to the migrants’ desperate calls for help.
Their testimonies on the tragedy have challenged both the Italian government and the international community to find new solutions to the migration crisis.
Meanwhile, the local community, which offered burial niches for some of the victims, expressed a deep solidarity and commitment to helping survivors and honoring the lost.
“My name is Mojtaba. I was born on Feb. 26, 2023. I feel I’m 1 year old today,” said survivor Mojtaba Rezapour Moghaddam, a 47-year-old Iranian who is building a new life in Crotone with the help of locals and aid groups.
Moghaddam fears the smugglers on board the Summer Love — after being arrested and sentenced — will be able go to back to Turkey and restart their illegal trafficking activities.
His almost-deadly trip to Italy costed him about 9,000 euros, but he recalled that others on the boat had paid even more.
TRIALS PENDING
Earlier in February, a Crotone magistrate sentenced Gun Ufuk, a 29-year-old Turkish citizen accused of being one of the people smugglers on the vessel, to 20 years in prison and a 3 million euro fine. Ufuk was arrested in March last year after being identified in Austria, to where he had managed to escape.
Ufuk chose a fast-track trial, while the other three alleged smugglers who survived the shipwreck are undergoing ordinary procedures, which may last several months, if not years.
Their trial was recently adjourned to April 10 to enable testimony from three survivors who are in Hamburg and will testify via videoconference.
Meanwhile, a second investigation launched by prosecutors in Crotone into alleged delays in the rescue operations is expected to wrap up in a month’s time. That probe involves three police officers from the Italian tax and border police and an additional three people whose identities are unknown.
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Zampano reported from Rome.
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Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
The French government is cracking down on cigarettes in public, announcing a sweeping outdoor smoking ban that aims to clear the air for the next generation of Parisians (and everyone else).
Beginning July 1, France will ban smoking in a wide range of outdoor public areas, including beaches, public parks, gardens, bus stops, sports venues and anywhere near schools, according to reporting from the BBC and Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Tobacco must disappear where there are children,” Health and Family Minister Catherine Vautrin told Ouest-France, a regional French newspaper, in an interview published Thursday.
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A protester lights a cigarette during a demonstration organized by unions and youth organizations calling for the repeal of a pension law and the increase in salaries in Toulouse, France, on Oct. 1, 2024. (PAT BATARD/Hans Lucas via AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
“The freedom to smoke must end where the freedom of children to breathe fresh air begins.”
Under the new rules, lighting up in these designated areas could earn violators a fine of up to $153, as reported by AFP. Enforcement will primarily be handled by regular police, though Vautrin said she’s counting on a dose of “self-regulation” from the public.
There’s a carve-out for culture, though. France’s iconic “terrasses,” the bustling outdoor café seating areas, are exempt from the ban.
Smokers can still enjoy a cigarette with their espresso and croissant, provided they’re seated at a café. The BBC confirmed that these social spaces, which are practically a national institution, won’t be affected.
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A cigarette and tobacco shop in the 4th arrondissement of Paris is seen on Sept. 13, 2024. (ANTOINE BOUREAU/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
E-cigarettes are also currently excluded from the restrictions, but Vautrin told Ouest-France that her office is working on future limits to the nicotine levels allowed in vapes.
The move marks a significant expansion of France’s existing anti-smoking laws.
Smoking has already been banned in restaurants, nightclubs and indoor public places since 2008. Local efforts to restrict smoking in public spaces have been growing steadily. According to AFP, more than 1,500 French municipalities have already enacted their own outdoor smoking bans and hundreds of beaches have been smoke-free for years.
A chef rolls a cigarette during a break outside a restaurant in Paris on April 8, 2025. (XAVIER GALIANA/AFP via Getty Images)
According to data from the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction cited by the BBC, just 23.1% of French adults smoke daily, the lowest level ever recorded and a drop of over five percentage points since 2014.
Still, tobacco-related illnesses remain a leading cause of death. France’s National Committee Against Smoking reports that more than 75,000 people die each year from smoking, around 13% of all annual deaths in the country.
Support for the new restrictions appears strong. A report from La Ligue Contre le Cancer, a prominent French cancer association, found that nearly 80% of French citizens favor smoke-free public areas like parks, beaches and woodlands.
But while many in France welcome the move, some have raised concerns over the balance between public health and personal liberty. Conservatives may see the ban as another example of top-down government overreach.
Be careful lighting up on your summer vacations in France this year as it may just get you a fine.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that his country could “apply sanctions” against Israelis unless the government in Tel Aviv responds to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Speaking during a visit to Singapore on Friday, Macron said the international community could not remain passive while Palestinians in Gaza face a deepening hunger crisis. The comments raise further the international pressure building on Israel, which has blockaded the Palestinian enclave for close to three months, with aid agencies warning of famine.
“The humanitarian blockade is creating a situation that is untenable on the ground,” Macron said at a joint news conference alongside Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
“If there is no response in the coming hours and days in line with the humanitarian situation, we will have to harden our collective position,” he added, suggesting that France may consider applying sanctions against Israeli settlers.
Israel recently said it was bowing to international pressure and would allow “minimal” supplies of food and medicine into Gaza, on which it continues to wage an intense military assault.
However, the trickle of aid entering the strip under the control of a new NGO backed by Israel and the United States has been accompanied by looting and violence.
In his comments, Macron called for an end to assumptions that Israel is respecting human rights.
“But I still hope that the government of Israel will change its stance and that we will finally have a humanitarian response,” he added.
The French leader also stressed that recognition of a Palestinian state is “not only a moral duty, but a political necessity,” although he added that its establishment would need to come under specific conditions.
His remarks followed a joint statement earlier in the week with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto condemning any Israeli plans to seize control of Gaza or expel its population.
Paris is hoping to rally momentum for a conditional recognition of Palestinian statehood, which would require, among other things, the demilitarisation of Hamas.
French officials are weighing up the move ahead of a United Nations conference, which France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting between June 17-20, to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel’s security.
However, some diplomats and experts suggest that such moves would infuriate Israel and deepen Western splits.
Imminent starvation
Despite some aid starting to trickle into Gaza after the Israeli blockade, the humanitarian crisis remains dire. Experts warn that one in five people faces imminent starvation.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private initiative supported by the United States and Israel, expanded its relief operations on Thursday. But the group’s efforts have been widely condemned by the United Nations and other agencies as insufficient, poorly managed and not adhering to humanitarian principles.
GHF centres have become sites of chaos, violence, and desperation with scenes of disorder running through the week as huge numbers of hungry people have overwhelmed security forces at distribution points.
![Palestinians carry an injured man after he was shot at an aid distribution center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation a US-backed organization approved by Israel in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday, May 29, 2025. [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AP25149597968661-1748586516.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
An Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza reported on Friday that several people were wounded by Israeli army gunfire in the centre of the enclave as they tried to reach an aid distribution point set up by GHF.
UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said on Friday that it was prepared to deliver supplies – including food parcels, hygiene kits and medical aid – from its warehouses in Amman, just a few hours’ drive from Gaza, if allowed access.
Meanwhile, talks over a ceasefire in Israel’s war with the Palestinian armed group Hamas continue, with the US having put forward a new proposal.
Hamas has said the proposal is “still under discussion”, but in its current form would only result in “the continuation of killing and famine” in Gaza.
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