The boat was carrying more than 120 people: IOM (representation)
Tripoli, Libya:
At least 74 migrants died in a “devastating” shipwreck Thursday off the Libyan coast, the United Nations said, the latest in a wave of shipwrecks of migrant ships in the central Mediterranean.
This year has seen an upsurge in boats in the central Mediterranean, a well-trodden but often deadly route for those hoping to make it to Europe, starting mainly from Libya and neighboring Tunisia.
The United Nations International Organization for Migration reported “a devastating shipwreck that claimed the lives of at least 74 migrants today off the coast of Khoms,” in a statement, adding that coast guards and fishermen were looking for survivors.
Khoms is a port city located 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the Libyan capital Tripoli.
IOM has called it the latest disaster in a “string of tragedies” involving at least eight other shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea since the start of October.
“The boat was carrying more than 120 people, including women and children,” IOM said, adding that 47 survivors had been brought ashore and 31 bodies found.
IOM said that in the past two days at least 19 other people, including two children, have drowned after two boats capsized in the central Mediterranean.
More than 20,000 migrants have died in the past seven years, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
Human traffickers have taken advantage of the continuing violence in Libya since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, turning the country into a key corridor for migrants fleeing war and poverty in desperate offers to reach Europe.
While many have drowned at sea, thousands have been intercepted by the Libyan coast guard, supported by Italy and the EU, and returned to Libya.
Most of them end up in detention, often in appalling conditions.
“Unworkable approach”
Rights groups have denounced the policy, and IOM has campaigned to end returns to the North African country, 300 kilometers (185 miles) from the Italian coast.
“The growing loss of human life in the Mediterranean is a manifestation of the failure of states to take decisive action to redeploy dedicated and much-needed search and rescue capabilities in the world‘s deadliest sea crossing,” said Federico Soda , IOM Libya. Head of Mission.
“We have long called for a change in the manifestly unworkable approach to Libya and the Mediterranean, including an end to returns to the country and the establishment of a clear disembarkation mechanism followed by the solidarity of other states.
“Thousands of vulnerable people continue to pay the price for inaction both at sea and on land.”
The latest shipwreck comes as Libyans on Thursday hammered in Tunisia the powers of a proposed transitional government in UN-led talks aimed at ending a brutal decade-long conflict.
Since Gaddafi’s ouster and murder, oil-rich Libya has been plagued by chaos and violence, with rival administrations in the east and west vying for control of the country.
Political talks in Tunisia follow an October ceasefire agreement and come as military talks, also led by the UN, were underway in Sirte, Gaddafi’s hometown.
IOM has said that so far this year at least 900 people have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach European shores – some due to delays in rescue operations.
More than 11,000 other people were returned to Libya, he said, “putting them at risk of human rights violations, detention, abuse, trafficking and exploitation”.
IOM said it has seen a recent upsurge in departures from Libya, with around 1,900 intercepted and returned, and more than 780 arriving in Italy from Libya since the start of October.
The Open Arms aid ship on Wednesday rescued around 100 migrants when their boat capsized, killing five people on board, said the charity that operates it.
The humanitarian ship is currently the only one operating in the Mediterranean, with others being managed by non-governmental groups detained for various reasons in Italian ports.
