Libya migrants are missing and presumed dead after their boat sank off the coast of Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The tragedy occurred due to high waves that overwhelmed the vessel after it departed from Zuwara on Libya’s northwest coast.
The IOM’s Libya office reported that there were around 86 migrants on board, and survivors, mainly from Nigeria, Gambia, and other African countries, stated that most victims included women and children. The IOM provided medical support to 25 rescued individuals transferred to a Libyan detention center, emphasizing the ongoing challenges of saving lives at sea on the central Mediterranean migrant route.
The Adriana, a fishing boat carrying 750 people from Libya to Italy, sank in international waters off southwest Greece on June 14. Survivors, predominantly Syrians, Pakistanis, and Egyptians, reported the tragic incident. Out of the total, only 104 people survived, and 82 bodies were recovered.
Italy has seen over 153,000 migrants arriving from Tunisia and Libya this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency. The violence in Libya over the past decade has created favorable conditions for human traffickers, contributing to various abuses, including extortion and slavery. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who won elections last year, pledged to address illegal migration.
Libya
Libya, officially known as the State of Libya (Arabic: دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a nation situated in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The country shares borders with the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west, and Tunisia to the northwest.
Under a UN-backed plan, Libya returns 161 Nigerian refugees home.
Libya has repatriated 161 Nigerians to their home country through a United Nations-supported voluntary repatriation initiative, responding to an increase in irregular migration in North Africa. The group, comprising approximately half women and including six children, received assistance from the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) at an airport in Tripoli before arriving in Lagos on Monday night.
Libyan and Nigerian officials met with the repatriated individuals before their departure, marking one of approximately a dozen transports scheduled this year. Imed Trabelsi, the interior minister of the UN-recognized government in war-torn Libya’s western region, emphasized that they cannot bear the burden of clandestine migration alone.
The Nigerians repatriated were taken from prisons across Libya, with 102 intercepted at the border between Libya and Tunisia, a common route for those hoping to reach Europe. Both countries agreed on August 10 to share responsibility for providing shelter to those stranded at their border, addressing a crisis triggered by mass expulsions from Tunisia.
Refugees in Tunisia reported experiencing racist attacks, particularly following Tunisian President Kais Saied’s speech in February, where he targeted them, alleging they bring “violence, crime, and unacceptable practices.” In Libya, authorities disclosed that over 27 people from sub-Saharan Africa were found dead after being abandoned in the desert amid scorching temperatures. Tunisia faces pressure to prevent refugees from departing Sfax to Europe as the European Union proposes a potential 1-billion-euro ($1.1bn) aid package to the economically struggling country, with significant allocations for “migration control.”
The voluntary repatriation program in Libya, aided by the UN for several years, has facilitated the return of tens of thousands stranded in the war-torn country to their home nations. Libyan authorities have faced criticism from the UN and rights groups for reported violence against refugees. Samuel Okeri, an official with Nigeria’s embassy in Tripoli, emphasized that the 161 people were returning voluntarily and not forced. Approximately 600,000 refugees and migrants reside in Libya, enduring 12 years of intermittent conflict since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. Recent armed clashes in Libya’s capital resulted in at least 55 deaths.
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