At least 74 migrants dead in ‘devastating’ shipwreck off Libya

At least 74 migrants have died in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast of Khoms, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Thursday.

Iran Press/Africa: According to the IOM, there were more than 120 people on board the dingy when the “devastating” incident took place, Al-Jazeera reported.
The Libyan coastguard and fisherman rescued 47 people, according to the IOM. This is at least the eighth shipwreck that occurred in the Central Mediterranean since October 1.

“The mounting loss of life in the Mediterranean sea is a manifestation of the inability of states to take decisive action to redeploy much needed, dedicated search and rescue capacity in the deadliest sea-crossing in the world,” said Federico Soda, IOM Libya Chief of the mission.

IOM maintains that Libya is not a safe port to return to, stressing that most migrants end up in detention facilities where human rights abuses, trafficking and exploitation have been widely reported.

According to the UN agency on migration, this year at least 900 people have drowned in the Mediterranean sea, some due to rescue delay, while more than 11,000 others have been returned to Libya.

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