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UNICEF/Alessio Romenzi

Spain’s decision to take in stranded boat welcomed by UN Refugee Agency

Spain’s reported announcement that it will allow a boat to dock carrying hundreds of migrants and refugees that was originally turned away from Italy is a “generous display of solidarity”, the UN Refugee Agency said on Monday.

So far this year, more than 600 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach mainland Europe, UNHCR spokesperson Charlie Yaxley told Daniel Johnson.

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UN Gender Focus Special: Syrian refugee's story of survival

A young Syrian refugee woman’s remarkable story of surviving “one of the worst shipwrecks in the Mediterranean” has been told in a book written by the chief spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

Melissa Fleming recently presented ‘A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea’ at UN Headquarters in New York.

Although she has heard many stories of resilience over the course of her career, Doaa Al Zamel’s story haunted her, Ms Fleming said.

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UNHCR/L.Boldrini (File Photo)

Doomed sea crossing survivors describe Mediterranean ordeal

Survivors of one of the worst ever tragedies at sea involving migrants crossing the Mediterranean, in which 500 people reportedly drowned, have begun to describe their ordeal.

That’s according to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, on Wednesday.

Just 41 people were rescued by a merchant vessel after a large ship went down in the Mediterranean last week.

UNHCR/F. Malavolta

Boat victims died one by one, say survivors

Survivors of a boat tragedy that claimed the lives of 49 migrants have given graphic accounts of fellow passengers dying one by one, migration experts said Tuesday.

UN partner the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that it learned the details from migrants who had been rescued from a vessel that got into difficulty soon after leaving the Libyan coast at the weekend.