42 feared dead in migrant shipwreck off Libya: UN

GENEVA,

The United Nations reported on Wednesday that 42 migrants are missing and presumed dead after a rubber boat capsized off the Libyan coast last week.

The incident is the latest in a series of disasters along a stretch of the Mediterranean that has claimed over a thousand lives so far this year.

Only seven survivors were rescued after drifting at sea for six days, according to a statement from the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The vessel, carrying 47 men and two women, departed Zuwara, west of Tripoli, on 3 November. Around six hours later, high waves caused engine failure, and the boat capsized, throwing all passengers overboard.

On Saturday, Libyan authorities conducted a search and rescue operation near the Al Buri oil field.

“After drifting at sea for six days, only seven men – four from Sudan, two from Nigeria, and one from Cameroon – were rescued,” the IOM said. “Tragically, 42 individuals remain missing and are presumed dead, including 29 from Sudan, eight from Somalia, three from Cameroon, and two from Nigeria.”

The survivors received emergency medical care, food, and water once ashore.

According to IOM figures, over 1,000 migrants have died this year attempting the central Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to southern Europe.

“With this latest shipwreck, the total has risen further, reinforcing the urgent need for strengthened regional cooperation, expanded safe and regular migration pathways, and more effective search and rescue operations to prevent further loss of life,” the IOM said.

A European Commission spokesperson told AFP: “These tragic events once again underline the need to intensify joint efforts with our partners, including Libya, to prevent such dangerous journeys and to combat the criminal networks of migrant smugglers that put lives at risk.”

UNHCR estimates that over 1,700 people have died or are missing on the wider Mediterranean and West Africa Atlantic migration routes this year. Since 2014, around 33,000 migrants are considered dead or missing in the Mediterranean, according to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.

The medical humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Tuesday that it is relaunching search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean, having suspended them in December 2024. Its new vessel, Oyvon, was previously an ambulance ship in Norway.

“We have returned to carry out the duty of rescue for those who find themselves in distress at sea, forced to take unseaworthy boats, after enduring deplorable and inhumane conditions, detention, abuse and extortion in Libya,” said Juan Matias Gil, MSF’s search and rescue representative.

MSF said the smaller, faster vessel is a response to what it described as Italy’s “restrictive” practices towards its previous larger rescue ship. The crew includes a doctor and a nurse capable of treating hypothermia, fuel inhalation, fuel burns, and injuries sustained during detention and abuse in Libya.