GENEVA: At least 53 migrants are feared dead or missing after a small boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday, according to The Nation. Only two women survived the tragic incident, highlighting the deadly risks faced by migrants seeking safety and opportunity in Europe.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the overcrowded boat overturned north of the Libyan town of Zuwara on Friday. The vessel had departed late Thursday night from Al-Zawiya, carrying migrants and refugees of different African nationalities. Around six hours into the journey, the boat began taking on water and eventually capsized.
Libyan authorities managed to rescue only two Nigerian women during a search-and-rescue operation. Their stories reflect heartbreaking loss. One survivor said she lost her husband, while the other said she lost her two young children in the disaster.
IOM teams provided emergency medical treatment and psychological support to the survivors upon their arrival ashore. The agency expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy, calling it yet another deadly chapter along the Central Mediterranean migration route, one of the world’s most dangerous sea crossings.
The UN agency warned that traffickers and smugglers continue to exploit vulnerable migrants desperate to escape poverty, conflict, and instability. These criminal networks profit by sending people across the sea in unsafe and overcrowded boats, exposing them to extreme danger, abuse, and death.
“IOM mourns the loss of life and calls for stronger international cooperation to break these trafficking networks,” the agency said in its statement. It also urged governments to expand safe and legal migration pathways to prevent people from resorting to dangerous journeys.
As families wait in anguish for news of loved ones, this tragedy serves as a painful reminder of the human cost of irregular migration and the urgent need for global action to protect lives.
