A four-year-old Syrian girl who left Lebanon for Europe on a fishing boat with 60 other migrants died of thirst after no ship or country came to their aid.

Loujin Ahmed Nasif had boarded the boat with her mother and one-year-old sister in their attempt to seek a better life in Europe.

The boat had likely been trying to reach Italy, reported Italian media.

But disaster struck when little Loujin and the 60 migrants she was travelling with were left stranded without food and water for more than 10 days.

Despite repeated calls from the Alarm Phone – an initiative to help refugees in need of rescue at sea – no one came to their aid.

The migrants had reportedly pleaded for help from Maltese and Greek authorities and several passing merchant ships, but no help came.

Eventually, the Greek authorities sent a merchant ship to rescue the migrants.

When the ship arrived, its crew requested an urgent medical evacuation for Loujin, but by the time a helicopter arrived, she was already dead.

Her sister Mira is now in a serious condition in hospital after she ingested seawater.

Moroccan-Italian social worker and human rights activist Nawal Soufi took to social media to write: “Loujin is dead because of European politics.

“She died in her mother’s arms while saying ‘mum, I’m thirsty’.”

Soufi added: “I tried so hard, but some very bad adults decided not to send you rescue.”

The activist said two adults were still missing after they fell into the water during the rescue operation.

Frontex said in a statement on 12th August: “In the first seven months of this year, there were about 155 090 irregular entries to the European Union, according to preliminary calculations. This represents an increase of 86% compared with the same period of last year.”

The Missing Migrants Project reported that there have been 1,280 dead or missing migrants, including 46 children, recorded in the Mediterranean so far this year.