Tripoli: The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that at least 61 migrants were missing and presumed dead after their boat sank off Libya’s coast. The migrants are believed to have died because of high waves which swamped their vessel after it left from Zuwara, on Libya’s northwest coast. These immigrants were trying to enter Europe illegally.
According to IOM, the boat was carrying 86 migrants aboard — including women and children. These migrants were from Nigeria, the Gambia and other African countries. 25 people were rescued and transferred to a Libyan detention centre.
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Libya and Tunisia are the major transit point of illegal immigrants to Europe. The United Nations has described the central Mediterranean migration route as the world’s deadliest, claiming hundreds of lives each year.
More than 2,250 people died this year on the central Mediterranean migrant route. The Adriana, a fishing boat loaded with 750 people en route from Libya to Italy, went down in international waters off southwest Greece on June 14. According to survivors, the ship was carrying mainly Syrians, Pakistanis and Egyptians. Only 104 survived and 82 bodies were recovered.
More than 153,000 migrants arrived in Italy this year from Tunisia and Libya, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
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