Italian Forces: Syrian Refugees and Italian Island

italian forces: Five recordings of separate telephone conversations from the day of the incident reveal how Italian forces ignored the sinking ship, according to Toronto Star. David Ramos/Getty Images By Anna Momigliano The Washington Post Tues., May 9, 2017 MILAN Almost four years ago, 268 Syrian refugees including 60 children lost their lives in a shipwreck about 97 kilometres south of Lampedusa, a small Italian island that sits between Sicily and Tunisia. Almost four years ago, 268 Syrian refugees including 60 children lost their lives in a shipwreck about 97 kilometres south of Lampedusa. It was considered one of the worst tragedies of the European refugee crisis, but a leaked audiotape published Monday by the magazine L'Espresso suggested that Italian authorities let the Syrians drown despite being alerted several hours earlier that the refugees' ship was in danger. Most of the passengers were Syrians who had left their country for Libya when conflict erupted at home in 2011, and were then forced to flee Libya when fighting broke out there as well. On the evening of Oct. 10, 2013, a ship carrying at least 480 people left Zuwarah, in northwestern Libya, headed for Lampedusa. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.