60 migrants feared drowned off Libyan coast
British state broadcaster BBC News reported on December 17 that 60 migrants were feared drowned off Libya.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that the boat, carrying 86 people, departed from Zuwara, a coastal city in Libya and that 61, including children, are feared dead
Libya and Tunisia have been popular departure points for those seeking to reach the European continent in hope of a better life.
Despite hard-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s anti-immigration rhetoric, migration from the Maghreb region into the Italian island of Lampedusa has been extremely high in 2023 and has skyrocketed since the right-wing figurehead rose to power in October 2022.
Recently, the EU commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said that migration from Tunisia had lowered significantly however noted, “Unfortunately, we (Europe) are seeing an increase in departures from Libya instead,”
READ: Libya sends over 200 migrants packing
The drop off in number of people coming from Tunisia into the continent can be explained by a deal that the European Union agreed with the North African country back in July where hundreds of millions of Euros were given to the country to establish stronger border security as well as boosting their sleeping economy. The agreement, which has been a contentious issue in Brussels, has seemingly come into effect after MEPs said not long ago that the deal lacked any substance given that migration from Tunisia was still excessive.
The IOM found that 153,000 people arrived in Italy from Libya this year alone. A spokesperson for the UN agency wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that there was a ,”dramatic number which unfortunately demonstrates that not enough is being done to save lives at sea”.
It has been reported by the AFP that those aboard in the recent of numerous shipwrecks that have occurred this year were mostly from Nigeria and Gambia.
The 25 survivors were transferred to a Libyan detention centre and were treated by medical staff.
AFP/ BBC News/ IOM
