At least 57 people drowned on Monday (July 26) after a boat capsized off the Libyan coast near Khums, the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean where more than 1,100 have perished this year, the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday (July 27), Reuters reports.
Bodies have not been recovered from the shipwreck, but survivors included migrants from Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia, IOM spokeswoman Paul Dillon told a U.N. briefing in Geneva.
"Survivors told our staff who regularly respond to these heart-wrenching scenes, that at least 57 people are missing, among them at least 20 women and two toddlers", he said.
The migrants, the majority from West Africa, departed from Khums, presumably to reach Europe, Dillon said.
"We believe that by advocating for better migration management practices, better migration governance and greater solidarity from EU members states we can come up with a clearer, safe and humane approach to this issue which begins with saving lives at sea", he added.
Migrant boat departures to Italy and other parts of Europe from Libya and Tunisia have increased in recent months with better weather. Hundreds of thousands have made the perilous crossing in the last years, many fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
Dillon also raised concern regarding the detention centers in Libya where migrants are brought after being intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea.
"We know from past experience that the returnees to Libya are typically brought to detention centers where well-documented cases of abuse and exploitation. We remain deeply concerned about the operations of some of these centers,” he said.
