The International Organization for Migration has announced that more than 60 individuals lost their lives following the sinking of a boat carrying refugees off the shores of Libya.
Kabul 24: On Sunday, December 17, the Libya office of the International Organization for Migration issued a statement, reporting that a boat carrying irregular migrants sank moments after departing from the port city of Zuwara, located in the northwest of Libya, due to the onslaught of high waves in the coastal waters of the country.
According to a report by the French news agency, survivors stated that the boat was carrying at least 86 refugees.
Most of the victims of this incident, including women and children, were identified as citizens of Nigeria, Gambia, and other African countries.
Local authorities have confirmed that 25 individuals from the passengers of this boat have been rescued so far and transferred to a detention center in Libya.
Libya and Tunisia serve as the primary departure points for many African refugees embarking on a perilous sea journey to Europe through Italy, often accompanied by deadly incidents.
More than 2,250 people died on the central European route this year, according to Flavio Di Giacomo, an IOM spokesperson.
It’s “a dramatic figure which demonstrates that unfortunately not enough is being done to save lives at sea,” Di Giacomo wrote on X.
According to the IOM’s missing migrants project, at least 940 migrants were reported dead and 1,248 missing off Libya between Jan. 1 and Nov. 18.
The project, which tracks migration movements, said about 14,900 migrants, including over 1,000 women and more than 530 children, were intercepted and returned to Libya this year.
In 2022, the project reported 529 dead and 848 missing off Libya. Over 24,600 were intercepted and returned to Libya.
Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the country’s lengthy borders, which it shares with six nations.
The migrants are crowded onto ill-equipped vessels, including rubber boats, and set off on risky sea voyages.
