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North African fishing boats abandoned in Sicilian harbour (Photo: Paul Keller)

EU border chief: 23,000 lives saved last year

"Seventy-two people are [sic] dying in front of me," Ethiopian boat survivor Abu Kurke told EUobserver in Brussels on Thursday (11 October).

Kurke is one of the nine people out of 72 who survived a tragic attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea by boat in April last year. Infants as young as one perished.

Nobody came to help them despite having been spotted by warships, a helicopter and fishing boats.

"We received water on the first day from a helicopter. Nobody [had] died ...

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Author Bio

Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.

North African fishing boats abandoned in Sicilian harbour (Photo: Paul Keller)

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Author Bio

Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.

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