Migrants from Eritrea, Libya and Sudan sail a wooden boat before being assisted by aid workers of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, in the Mediterranean sea, about 30 miles north of Libya, June 17, 2023
THE REFUGEE death toll in the central Mediterranean has topped 1,000, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) announced today, following another tragic shipwreck off the coast of Libya last week.
A rubber boat carrying 49 people left Zuwara, on Libya’s northern coast, on November 3 at 3am. However, six hours later, high waves capsized the boat and threw its passengers overboard.
Five days later, the Libyan Coastguard found just seven survivors near an offshore oil rig. The 42 others remain missing, presumed dead.
The IOM said in a statement today that its team in Tripoli provided the survivors with emergency medical care, water and food upon their return to Libya.
“This tragic event, coming just weeks after other deadly incidents off Surman [Libya] and Lampedusa [Italy], underscores the persistent dangers faced by migrants and refugees along the Central Mediterranean Route,” the IOM said.
“According to the latest data from IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, the death toll in the Central Mediterranean has already surpassed 1,000 this year.
“With this latest shipwreck, the total has risen even further, reinforcing the urgent need for strengthened regional co-operation, expanded safe and regular migration pathways, and more effective search-and-rescue operations to prevent further loss of life.”
The UN organisation estimates 1,502 people have died across the Mediterranean so far this year, with 1,044 deaths in the central area, 242 in the east and 216 in the west.
Libya’s treatment of refugees has been widely condemned by refugees and human rights groups.
Britain, Spain, Norway and Sierra Leone urged the Libyan government to close its migrant detention centres at a UN meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
