by Nurat Uthman
An 11-year-old Sierra Leonean girl has been rescued after three days at sea as the sole survivor of a shipwreck.
She was discovered by the German charity Compass Collective around 3 a.m. on Wednesday, clinging to tyre tubes and wearing a life jacket.
The girl recounted setting off from Sfax, Tunisia, aboard a metal boat carrying 45 people, which sank during a storm. She was the only survivor. Charity crew members provided care before transferring her to Lampedusa, a key entry point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
After receiving medical assistance, she was moved to a migrant holding center, where Italian Red Cross staff are now looking after her. Nicola Dell’Arciprete, head of UNICEF Italy, expressed sorrow over the tragedy, stating, “In this festive period, in which the majority of us is lucky to be with their loved ones, my thoughts go out to the girl from Sierra Leone.”
The Central Mediterranean route is among the world’s deadliest for migrants, with over 24,300 reported dead or missing since 2014, according to the International Organisation for Migration. NGO Mediterranea said in a statement it feared three more migrant boats had disappeared on the route between Tunisia and Italy in recent weeks, and urged authorities to launch a search operation to rescue possible survivors.
“Lives in danger at sea cannot be abandoned,” said Mediterranea’s Luca Casarini.
While Italy’s hardline immigration policies claim to have reduced migrant arrivals—64,000 this year compared to 153,000 in 2023—the perilous journey continues to claim countless lives. Mediterranea’s Luca Casarini stressed, “Lives in danger at sea cannot be abandoned.”
