Six migrants have been found dead and 29 others are missing and presumed dead after their boat sank off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Saturday.
Read alsoLibya: two prime ministers face each other in Tripoli
“A small wooden boat carrying around 35 migrants capsized yesterday off Sabratha (west, editor’s note). The bodies of six people have been recovered while 29 others are missing and presumed dead. tweeted the IOM office in Libya. “At least 53 migrants have been reported dead or missing off Libya this week alone”lamented the UN agency.
The North African country is an important crossing point for tens of thousands of migrants seeking each year to reach Europe by the Italian coasts, some 300 km away.
Mostly from countries in sub-Saharan Africa, these candidates for exile fall prey to traffickers, when they don’t die attempting the crossing.
Plunged into a major political crisis since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya is regularly criticized for the mistreatment inflicted on migrants, particularly in detention centers.
Since the beginning of the year, “at least 475 people have died trying to cross the central Mediterranean” via this route, according to an IOM report dated April 11, i.e. before the sinking announced on Saturday.