A number of NGOs said this afternoon they were deeply saddened by the news of the death of some 400 migrants in an attempt to reach Italy from Libya.

The migrants died when their boat capsized, according to survivors.

This was the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean where the death toll from shipwrecks has surged this year.

The NGOs expressed their condolences to friends and family of the deceased and thanked people involved in difficult search and rescue operations.

"It might be easy for Malta to look at the small number of arrivals last year and believe that these tragedies are a thing of the past, or that they do not require our individual and collective concern.

"Such a shortsighted approach not only fails to appreciate the human dimension of such tragedies, but also leads us to believe that Malta has no legal and moral responsibilities in their regard," the NGOs said.

"This recent incident, like all other maritime tragedies, urges us to direct our grief to seeking ways of preventing their repetition. It is unacceptable that the Mediterranean Sea, our own immediate environment, keeps accumulating corpses of men, women and children who are desperately seeking to be safe, to live a more stable life, to reunite with their loved ones, to be free from persecution." 

They called on the European Union and member states to prevent such incidents by doing their utmost to secure safe and legal access to Europe.

The NGOs were: Aditus Foundation, African Media Association, Foundation for Shelter and Support of Migrants, Integra Foundation, International Association for Refugees, Jesuit Refugee Service, KOPIN, Malta Emigrants' Commission, Migrants' Network for Equality, Organisation for Friendship in Diversity, Pace Lab, People for Change Foundation and SOS Malta.