UNICEF Deputy Executive Director With Italian Coast Guard
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth Travels to Sicily and Lampedusa, Italy, Where He Meets Desperate Migrants. Then He Joins The Italian Coast Guard On An Operation To Save Them.
UNICEF Depurty Executive Director Justin Forsyth was recently on the Italian Coast Guard ship Diciotti during an operation on Tuesday that saved about 4,500 migrants at sea. According to UNICEF, 7,600 children made the perilous sea crossing between January and May, 92 percent of them unaccompanied. Unnacompanied child migrants face high risks of sexual abuse, violence and prostitution.
The migrants, many from Sub-Saharn Africa, were part of a wave of 220,000 migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, many fleeing joblessness, conflict, or environmental catastrophe. The International Organization for Migration said that of those who have crossed this year, most have set off fom Libya, followed by Egypt.
©Justin Forsythe/2016
Forsyth's time aboard Diciotti was part of a trip he made to the Italian islands of Sicily and Lampedusa, which, due to their proximity to North African departure points for migrants, have recieved tens of thousands. Forsyth documented some of his experiences--including the migrants and rescue workers he met--on his Twitter account.
