WARNING: This post contains content some readers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
A picture showing an aid worker cradling the body of a drowned infant serves as a stark reminder of the migrant crisis that continues to unfold.
READ MORE: ‘I only tried to pray’: Mediterranean shipwreck survivors haunted by cries of children
The image shows the plump baby, eyes closed and lips purple, in the arms of a man aboard a boat. It was taken Friday during a rescue operation off the coast of Libya.
The child was one of an estimated 700 people to drown in the span of a just a few days in the Mediterranean; rescue crews were able to save thousands more.
The photo was released by Sea-Watch, a German non-profit organization working day and night in the Mediterranean Sea conducting search and rescue operations. The man holding the baby in the photo is a German Sea-Watch volunteer.
IN PHOTOS: World mourns drowned Syrian boy Alan Kurdi
The organization released the image in an effort to persuade European officials to ensure safe passage for migrants, according to a Reuters report.
There are many reports of boats filled beyond capacity, making the deadly journey to Europe from Northern Africa, Libya, Syria and other war-torn, poverty-stricken areas. Many of the boats don’t make it.
The region has seen an uptick in migrant movement in recent weeks due to calm weather and sunny conditions.
“The situation is really worsening in the last week,” Giovanna Di Benedetto, a Save the Children spokeswoman in Italy, told the Associated Press.
WARNING: This below image contains content some viewers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
Human smuggling has become a booming industry; Europol estimates human traffickers netted as much as $6.6 billion in 2015, with much of that money going to criminal organizations.
The UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, says 189,000 people made the journey by sea to reach Europe this year.
Comments