At least 55 migrants, including women and children, have drowned after a boat carrying over 60 people sank off the coast of Libya, according to the UN migration agency. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the tragedy occurred on Tuesday, with the boat setting off from the coastal town of Garabouli, east of Libya’s capital, Tripoli. Only five survivors were rescued by the Libyan coast guard, including four men from Pakistan and Egypt and a Syrian child.
The IOM spokesperson, Safa Msehli, reported that the boat capsized shortly after leaving Garabouli. The Libyan coast guard has so far retrieved the bodies of nine men and a child. The IOM has documented at least 537 people who have drowned or gone missing in migrant disasters in the Mediterranean off Libya so far this year, with more than 4,300 having been intercepted and returned to shore.
Garabouli, east of Libya’s capital, Tripoli
The Mediterranean route has become increasingly treacherous, with the first quarter of this year being the deadliest since 2017, with at least 441 documented deaths. However, this number is likely an undercount, as the IOM is still investigating several other unreported shipwrecks where the fate of over 300 people remains unclear. In 2022, at least 529 migrants were reported dead and 848 were missing off Libya, while over 24,680 were intercepted and returned to the country.
Libya has become a key transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to reach Europe, with human traffickers taking advantage of the country’s chaos to smuggle in migrants. Those who are intercepted and returned to Libya are often held in government-run detention centres, where they are subjected to abuse, including forced labour, beatings, rape, and torture.
