Mediterranean Sea: more than 75 dead off Libya

A boat that left Libya with 92 people on board was wrecked off the Libyan coast on Wednesday (November 17th), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said this weekend. “More than 75 migrants drowned after leaving Libya, according to 15 survivors rescued by fishermen and brought to Zouara,” in the west of the country, the UN agency said on Twitter on Saturday. Only six bodies were found by the fishermen.

Three castaways were transferred to hospital, the others were released on arrival at the port, IOM told InfoMigrants. The survivors come from Sudan, Pakistan, Gambia, Nigeria and Ghana.

“This dramatic shipwreck has brought the death toll in the central Mediterranean to 1,300” since the start of the year, commented Flavio di Giacomo, IOM spokesperson. “Unacceptable figure”, he added, insisting on the need to “do more to save lives at sea”. Last year, nearly 1,000 people died trying to reach Europe by sea.

In recent days, there have been many departures from the Libyan coast. Humanitarian ships Sea Watch 4, from the German NGO of the same name, and Geo Barents, from Médecins sans frontières (MSF), assisted a total of 561 migrants between Monday 15 and Sunday 21 November. In one of the boats rescued by the Geo Barents, the crew found 10 exiles dead by “suffocation, after having drifted 13 hours at sea”, according to the medical NGO.

On Friday, 302 people, including 50 women and 22 children, were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The next day, the Italian authorities rescued 420 migrants off their coast: 70 were transferred to Lampedusa and the 350 others to Sicily.

Crossing attempts from Libya have rebounded sharply this year. Between January 1 and November 13, 29,427 people were arrested at sea by the Libyan coast guard and returned to the country, compared to 11,891 for the whole of 2020. According to Flavio Di Giacomo, this The increase in departures is explained by the constant threats to the exiles from the authorities. “It seems the danger has increased compared to last year […] The migrants seek to flee Libya where they are victims of violence and where human rights are violated, “he said this summer in an interview with RFI.