22 Missing and One Dead as Migrants Boat Capsizes Off Libyan Coast

In yet another sad event involving migrants trying to reach Europe, on Tuesday a boat carrying thirty-two migrants overturned off the Libyan coast, killing one person and missing 22 others. Nine people have been rescued and brought to the port of Tobruk, according to the Libyan coast guard in Tobruk. The survivor underwent medical treatment at a nearby hospital as well.

According to the Abreen, a local charity organization helping migrants in eastern Libya, the boat, which had set sail from the Bab al-Zaitoun location, roughly 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of Tobruk, had mechanical breakdown with its engine. Mostly from Egypt and Syria, the migrants on board reflected the ongoing influx of people escaping conflict and poverty from all throughout the Middle East and Africa.

For immigrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in hopes of arriving in Europe, Libya has become ever more central. Still in upheaval after the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of long-standing leader Moammar Gadhafi, the North African country has turned into a refuge for people traffickers using migrant workers. Usually leading to such tragic events, they smuggle them across Libya’s weak borders and board overcrowded, unsuitable boats.

The most recent capsize adds to the rising death toll from migrant life lost at sea. The missing migrants project of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicates at least 434 dead and 611 missing off the Libyan coast during the past eight months alone. Libyan officials intercepted around 14,101 migrants and brought them back to their native nation.

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With 17,200 intercepted and returned to Libya, the IOM stated in 2023 a total of 962 dead and 1,563 missing. Human rights groups have harshly condemned detention facilities for their systemic abuses, including forced labor, beatings, rape, and torture. Those returning to Libya sometimes find terrible conditions there. U.N. researchers have called these actions crimes against humanity.

This sad event emphasizes the fatal hazards migrants still encounter when they left their homes in quest of better chances only to be confronted with exploitation, dangerous travels, and in many cases death.