(Brussels 04 October) The second fatal boat trip across the Mediterranean in a week has left Italy in three days of national mourning, with fatalities from the most recent boat sinking expected to surpass 111 people. Over 155 people have been rescued from the vessel that caught fire after engine failure just 1km from the Italian coastline. The Tunisian skipper of the vessel has been arrested. Men, women and children drowned as the vessel encountered difficulties which sank within sight of the coastline.
A fire was started to attract the attention of passing vessels and aircraft when the engines failed. According to unnamed survivors quoted in the media said three fishing boats had seen the vessel was in trouble but had ignored the call for help. The Italian Minister of Interior Angelino Alfano has categorically rejected this as impossible given “Italians have big hearts”. Of a different view is Giusi Nicolini, the island’s mayor. Speaking to the Huffington Post [[Italy]], she said:
‘Italy’s immigration law is inhumane. Three fishing boats didn’t offer rescue and left the vessel to its destiny because our country has put fishermen who helped migrants at sea under trial accusing them of facilitating illegal immigration.’
Carrier liability
Alfano, the deputy Italian Prime Minister, said: “We hope the EU realises that this is not an Italian but a European disaster.” He headed to Lampedusa vowing to “make Italy’s voice heard loudly” with José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission.
The people who died in this most recent tragedy were mostly from [[Eritrea]], Somalia and Ghana, countries were Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is widely practised, as acknowledged by these joint EU – UNICEF projects. FGM is a practice that is basis for asylum in the EU. Gender-based violence is a violation of human rights. UNHCR’s Guidelines on gender-related persecution in the context of Article 1(A)2 16 state that: “Rape and other forms of gender-related violence, such as dowry-related violence, female genital mutilation, domestic violence, and trafficking, are acts which inflict severe pain and suffering – both mental and physical – and which have been used as forms of persecution, whether perpetrated by State or private actors.”
Next Wednesday the European Commissioner for Humanitarian affairs, Ms Kristalina Georgieva is set to participate in World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings and will speak on Thursday at the International Monetary Fund Seminar on “The Challenge of Exiting from Fragility”; speaks at the follow-up to United Nations General Assembly Lost Generation meeting; will also meet with Mr Makhtar Diop, World Bank’s vice-president for Africa; with Ms Nancy Lindborg, Assistant Administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ms Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration. We hope that during the course of these meetings more can be done to help the plight of migrants, needlessly dying on their way to Europe.
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Accessibility Statement
womenlobby.org
9 May 2025
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
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Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML,
adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
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alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
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Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
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Disability profiles supported in our website
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Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
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Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
