Sixty migrants drown off Libya trying to reach Europe
Sixty-one migrants, including women and children, have drowned off the coast of Libya, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said, in the latest deadly incident on the southern Mediterranean migrant route.
The IOM said, citing survivors, that 86 migrants left the Libyan coastal town of Zwara on a dinghy, but faced high tides which eventually caused a capsize.
The 25 survivors, including five women and a minor, were rescued by the Libyan coast guard during the night between Dec 13 and 14 and “unfortunately were taken to a detention centre in Tariq al Sekka”, in Libya, Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesman for the IOM in Italy, told The Daily Telegraph.
He said that according to IOM’S estimates, more than 2,250 migrants who were attempting the crossing from northern Africa to Europe have died this year, making it the deadliest migrant route to Europe.
“This number is for sure an underestimate because many migrants attempted the crossing from the Tunisian coast on rickety, small vessels made of iron, which are particularly unsafe.
“For sure there have been many more shipwrecks, but we don’t have the proof of it,” Mr Di Giacomo said .
News of the incident emerged as Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, and Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, agreed to co-fund a project that would see the two countries “promote and assist the voluntary return” of migrants currently stuck in Tunisia.
Mr Sunak said in a speech in Rome at a political festival organised by the Italian premier’s Right-wing party that hostile states will increasingly “drive people to our shores” to destabilise Western nations unless leaders crack down on illegal migration and revamp asylum conventions.
He added that insufficient action would lead to growing numbers that will “overwhelm our countries and our capacity to help those who need our help most”.