CommemorAction in Zarzis, Tunisia in September 2022. Photo: Chiara Denaro, Alarm Phone.
Following several shipwrecks in the Strait of Sicily during Cyclone Harry, causing the disappearance of around a thousand people between 14 and 21 January 2026, MEM. MED, ASGI, Mediterranea and Alarm Phone sent letters to Italian national and local authorities urging them to immediately activate all of the necessary procedures for the identification of the bodies recovered along the Sicilian and Calabrian coasts. In order to provide answers to the numerous families currently searching for their loved ones, the above-mentioned organisations request the authorities to fully comply with protocols for DNA sampling and with the reliable traceability of burials.
In January 2026, following an escalation of violence in Tunisia, hundreds of people left Sfax in an attempt to reach the northern shores of the Mediterranean. Many of these departures took place between January 14 and 21, just as the Strait of Sicily was hit by Cyclone Harry, which affected the Central Mediterranean for about two weeks, making weather conditions particularly difficult and, as a result of several factors, making it challenging to follow clear routes. According to reports from the organisations Mediterranea, Refugees in Libya and Alarm Phone, more than ten boats departed during this period, with an estimated total of at least 1,000 people missing at sea. To date, only one of the boats is known to have reached Lampedusa, while the fate of the others remains uncertain. In the weeks following the cyclone, one body was recovered at sea by the Ocean Viking vessel, operated by the NGO SOS Méditerranée, while others were found at sea or were recovered on the coasts near Trapani and Marsala, Pantelleria, and near the municipalities of Tropea, Amantea, Scalea and Paola. It is likely that in the coming days and weeks more bodies will be sighted in an advanced state of decomposition, making them increasingly difficult to recognise.
The associations Alarm Phone and MEM.MED report that they have received numerous reports from family members searching for missing loved ones who left the Tunisian coast during those days. MEM.MED, via the lawyer appointed by the relatives of missing persons, have sent formal requests to the competent authorities to carry out all necessary investigations regarding the bodies found, in order to verify whether they belong to those their missing family members are searching for.
In light of these circumstances, the organisations involved emphasise the importance of activating and guaranteeing all necessary procedures to allow for as many identifications as possible and to return the deceased to their families.
“In order to restore an identity and story to the missing, and provide definite answers to families waiting for news, we have called for the adoption of rigorous and coordinated procedures.”
The organisations have sent letters to the relevant national and local authorities, asking that all procedures aimed at proper identification be carried out promptly and in full compliance with the established protocols, including DNA sampling and comparison, and the reliable traceability of burial sites.
“We reiterate that official recognition is an act of legal civility owed to anyone who loses their life crossing borders,” the organisations conclude.
MEM.MED – Memoria Mediterranea
ASGI APS – Associazione Studi Giuridici sull’Immigrazione
Mediterranea Saving Humans APS
Alarm Phone
Contacts
ASGI – info@asgi.it 3894988460
MEM.MED – info@memoriamediterranea.org 3391683338
Mediterranea Saving Humans – stampa@mediterranearescue.org
Alarm Phone – media@alarmphone.org
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Further material
- Letter sent to Italian national authorities and to the authorities of the Siracusa Province
- Letter sent to the authorities of the Trapani Province
- Letter sent to the authorities of the Calabria Region
