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Rescuers resumed their search yesterday for hundreds of African migrants missing off the coast of Italian island Lampedusa, setting a grisly tone for the closing day of a UN summit on immigration.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki Moon told the representatives of the 150 nations present that they "need look no further than the morning headlines to see the great importance of the dialogue."
As the Morning Star went to press the disaster had claimed at least 111 lives while just 155 of the 450-500 people believed to be on board had been rescued, with the rest still unaccounted for.
The 66-foot boat, which was overloaded with migrants from Eritrea, Ghana and Somalia, started taking on water and then caught fire on Thursday when someone set fire to a rag in a bid to catch the attention of nearby ships, the coastguard said.
The blaze then panicked those on board who stampeded to one side and flipped the rickety boat over, according to eyewitness accounts.
As row upon row of bodies covered in bright tarpaulin lined up along the Lampedusa shoreline, Mr Ban told the global gathering in New York that the "world must do more to protect migrants."
The secretary-general launched a report with eight key recommendations for member states to consider including protecting migrants' rights and creating greater legal opportunities for migration.
Independent UN investigator on migrant rights Francois Crepeau issued a stark warning against the increasing criminalisation of immigrants spurred by right-wing movements across the Western world.
"Treating irregular migration only by repressive measures will produce this type of result we (had in Lampedusa)," the Canadian law professor said.
"We have to find other ways. Repression may be part of the solution but repressing irregular migration only does one thing - it entrenches and it empowers the migrant smugglers."
His comments echoed UN deputy secretary-general Jan Eliasson who ahead of the summit reminded reporters: "At the heart of migration are human beings who move. The term 'migrants' describes what they do but let us remember who they are - human beings with human rights."
