More than 70 migrants who left Libya with the intention of reaching the European continent disappeared after their vessel sank off the coast of Tunisia, the Tunisian National Guard said on Wednesday (25).
The inflatable boat, which was carrying about 100 people, left Libya on the night of 22 to 23 May and sank near Sfax (east-central Tunisia). The Coast Guard and Navy found a body and managed to save 24 people, but the rest are missing, said Houcem Eddin Jebabli, a spokesman for the National Guard.
According to him, the people who traveled on the vessel are from Asian and African countries.
On Tuesday, the Libyan Navy announced that four migrants trying to reach Europe had died and three were missing after their vessel sank in western Libya.
After the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya became part of the route that thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, Arab countries and South Asia use to try to reach Europe, in an attempt to reach the coast of Italy, which is 300 kilometers away.
Many of them are stranded in Libya, a country frequently denounced by humanitarian organizations for the mistreatment of these migrants.
Since the beginning of the year, 6,340 migrants have been intercepted and returned to Libya, according to the IOM (International Organization for Migration). At least 129 people have died trying to reach Europe and 459 are missing, that is, most likely dead, according to the most recent data.
