The Global Initiative Against Illegal Migration, a non–profit making organisation focused on fighting illegal migration, has condemned the death of 26 Nigerian women believed to be migrants recovered from a Spanish warship in the Italian coast city of Salerno.
A report by the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday said a Spanish warship, Cantabria, which docked in the city, was found to be carrying 375 rescued migrants and the dead women.
Reacting to the development, the Executive Director, Barrister Emmanuel Osime Obinyan, blamed the harsh economic situation in the country for the tragedy.
Obinyan said there was a need for the federal and state governments to address the rising rate of unemployment in the country to curb the menace of human trafficking.
Obinyan said, “’The Global Initiative Against Illegal Migration condemns this development and insist that things cannot continue this in this manner. This is highly unacceptable and no nation can afford to fold its arms and allow her citizens to be dying unnecessarily like this.
He added, “This association has been campaigning against illegal migration and human trafficking for a long time and we have kept emphasizing the need to empower the youths and women in order to reduce the spate of mishaps arising from the illegal acts of human trafficking and illegal migration.”