GENEVA (AFP) – Seventy-three people are missing and presumed dead after a rubber boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Libya, the United Nations Organization for Migration said Wednesday. This was the latest tragedy involving immigrants seeking a better life in Europe.
The UN International Organization for Migration said in a statement that the disaster struck on Tuesday and that Libyan authorities had recovered 11 of her bodies.
A boat carrying about 80 migrants is said to have set off from the village of Qasr al-Akhyar, 80 kilometers east of the capital, Tripoli. Migrants are heading to the shores of Europe, it said. Among the dead were one woman and 10 men, according to IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli.
It was not immediately clear what had happened to the ship, but photos showed the deflated and broken inflatable boat washed ashore.
The seven migrants, all men, survived the accident and ended up on the Libyan coast to find themselves in “extremely dire conditions,” according to the United Nations. they were taken to the hospital.
Officials in Qasr al-Akhyar have shared footage online of Libyan Red Crescent workers handling washed-up bodies. The footage also showed a broken dinghy. In another video shared by the community, survivors said dozens of migrants died in the shipwreck. He said he paid smugglers between $3,000 and $5,000 each for making the ill-fated journey.
In comments on the video, Qasr al-Ahyal’s top official, Salem Awag, urged Tripoli authorities to provide further assistance to the village in order to protect the coast and prevent further crossings.
Tuesday’s shipwreck was the latest tragedy in the Central Mediterranean, an important route for migrants. According to the IOM, the number of deaths along this route has reached at least 130 migrants this year. More than 1,450 migrants died in 2022, according to the IOM Missing Migrants Project.
“The situation is intolerable,” said the group’s spokeswoman Safa Museri. She called on the government to step up search and rescue efforts and establish “clear and safe disembarkation mechanisms and safe and regular routes of travel.”
Off the coast of Libya alone, at least 529 migrants were reported dead and 848 missing last year, according to the IOM.
In recent years, Libya has become a major transit point for migrants trying to cross to Europe from Africa and the Middle East. The oil-rich country was thrown into turmoil after a NATO-backed uprising that overthrew and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Traffickers have taken advantage of the chaos in war-torn Libya to smuggle migrants across the long borders of Libya, a desert country of six nations. Migrants are then usually stuffed into ill-equipped inflatable boats and stranded on perilous voyages.
European countries have put pressure on Libyan authorities and the coast guard in recent years to detain and intercept migrants trying to cross European shores.
Human rights groups say many of those arrested and returned to Libya, including women and children, are held in government-run detention centers where they are subjected to torture, rape, extortion and other ill-treatment.
