migration
IOM: More than 60 dead in boat accident off the coast of Libya
People sit in a wooden boat in the Mediterranean. Symbolic image photo
© Joan Mateu Parra/AP/dpa
“The central Mediterranean remains one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world,” said the IOM. The sad reason: 61 people drowned during the dangerous crossing.
In a boat accident off the coast According to the UN, dozens of people have died in Libya. At least 61 people drowned, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced in Libya on the X platform, formerly Twitter.
Women and children were also among the victims. There were 86 people on the boat, the IOM said, citing survivors. It set sail from the Libyan coastal town of Suwara.
“The central Mediterranean remains one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world,” IOM continued. Libya has become an important transit country for migrants seeking to flee war and poverty to Europe. Most migrants make the dangerous crossing to Europe in unseaworthy rubber boats.
According to the IOM, more than 2,200 people have already died this year on the route that leads across the central Mediterranean. This is a “dramatic figure” that proves that not enough is being done to save lives at sea, an IOM spokesman said on Saturday evening. According to the organization, more than 20,000 people have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean since 2014.