The sinking of a migrant boat off the Libyan coast killed at least 43 people, while 10 people were rescued, according to a report announced Wednesday by the UN, the day after the tragedy.
In a joint statement, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) say they are “deeply saddened” by this shipwreck on Tuesday, “the first of 2021 in the central Mediterranean “, Which” claimed the lives of at least 43 people “.
According to the IOM and the International Rescue Committee, UNHCR’s partner on the ground, 10 survivors were rescued and brought to land by the coast guard in Zwara, Libya. Emergency aid, including food and water, was provided to them by the UN and its partners.
The boat had embarked in the early hours of the day Tuesday from the city of Zaouia, about 50 km west of Tripoli.
According to the UN, the ship’s engine stopped a few hours after departure, and the boat capsized due to the state of the sea.
Survivors, mainly from Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana and The Gambia, said the men who perished were all from countries in West Africa.
In total, more than 1,200 migrants perished in 2020 in the Mediterranean, the vast majority of them on this central route, according to the IOM.
IOM and UNHCR fear that the actual number of people who died on this road last year is much higher.
The candidates for exile from various countries mainly leave Tunisia and Libya to reach Europe via Italy, whose coasts are the closest.
On January 11, the Ocean Viking, the rescue ship at sea of the NGO SOS Méditerranée, left the port of Marseille in France to return to the central Mediterranean, where crossings of candidates for exile are increasing.
The Italian authorities have imposed on the NGO work “expensive” according to it on the ship for compliance, including the addition of life rafts and additional immersion suits.