No child should bear the consequences of Europe’s policy of deterrence- SOS Humanity (international)

SOS Humanity International is mourning a two-year-old missing after a shipwreck off Lampedusa.

According to the organisation, an average of one child dies daily in the Central Mediterranean.

Worried by the development, it emphatically stated that no child should bear the consequences of Europe’s policy of deterrence.

SOS Humanity (international) made the remark in a statement on its X handle.

The information reads: “++ TW Death ++ In deep sorrow. A mother and her 2-year-old son from Sierra Leone set out across the Central Mediterranean in search of safety. On 14 March, their boat sank off Lampedusa. 64 people were rescued – including 10 minors. But the boy is missing. He was only two.

“On average, around one child loses their life every day in the Central Mediterranean: according to UNICEF, around 3,500 children died or went missing in the Central Mediterranean between April 2015 and April 2025.

“No child should bear the consequences of Europe’s policy of deterrence. Deaths like this are not inevitable. They are the result of political decisions that weaken rescue capacities – and leave people in distress without protection or safe and legal routes to safety.”