The humanitarian aid organization discovered the bodies of around 20 migrants off the city of Zouara, in western Libya, the International Organization for Migration announced on Sunday.
The bodies of 22 migrants were recovered by the Red Crescent off the city of Zouara in western Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Sunday.
“Today, 22 bodies were recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent in Zouara,” Federico Soda, head of the IOM mission in Libya, said on Twitter where he shared a photo showing several bodies in bags black people lined up on the beach.
“These painful deaths are the result of an increasingly harsh policy against people fleeing conflict and extreme poverty, and the failure of a humane management of migratory flows,” he said. he adds.
Nearly 40 survivors
On Wednesday, IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a joint statement that 37 survivors rescued by fishermen said at least 45 others had died when their boat’s engine crashed. exploded off Zouara.
“Given the location of the reported shipwreck, it is possible” that these are the same people, Safa Msehli, IOM spokesperson in Geneva, told AFP on Sunday. “The bodies recovered today all belong to African men but we do not yet have details of their nationality,” she added.
“It is yet another reminder of the peril of this trip and the dangers that these desperate people are ready to face in order to flee violence and extreme poverty,” said Safa Msehli. Insufficient search and rescue capabilities are of “great concern as we continue to see preventable deaths and tragedies,” she continued.
Important transit point
Despite persistent violence since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya remains an important transit point for migrants fleeing instability in other parts of Africa and the Middle East and seeking to reach the Europe. Many shipwrecks have taken place off the coast of Libya in recent years.
Migrant departures from the Libyan coast increased by nearly 300% between January and April 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, according to the UN.
More than 100,000 migrants attempted to cross the Mediterranean last year and more than 1,200 perished at sea, according to IOM.
–
