CAIRO: A rubber boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants sank off the coast of Libya and at least 55 people drowned, including women and children, the UN migration agency said Wednesday. It was the latest tragedy in this part of the Mediterranean Sea, a key route for migrants.
The International Organization for Migration said the disaster took place on Tuesday. The boat was carrying at least 60 migrants and had set off from the coastal town of Garabouli, east of Libya’s capital, Tripoli.
The agency said five migrants survived the shipwreck and were brought back to shore by the Libyan coast guard. It was not immediately clear what happened to the vessel.
Safa Msehli, an IOM spokesperson, said the boat capsized a short while after leaving Garabouli. She said the Libyan coast guard has so far retrieved the bodies of nine men and a child.
The five survivors include four men — three Pakistanis and one Egyptian — and a Syrian child, Msehli told The Associated Press.
The was the latest tragedy in the central Mediterranean Sea, a key route for migrants. The IOM said at least 537 people have drowned or gone missing in migrant disasters in the Mediterranean off Libya so far this year, while over 4,300 have been intercepted and returned to shore.
Earlier this month, the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project said that the first quarter of this year was the deadliest in the Central Mediterranean since 2017, with at least 441 documented deaths.
That number, however, is likely “an undercount of the true number of lives lost,” the agency said, adding that it was still investigating several other unreported shipwrecks where the fate of more than 300 people onboard remain unclear.
In 2022, at least 529 migrants were reported dead and 848 people were missing off Libya, while over 24,680 were intercepted and returned to the chaos-hit North African country, according to the IOM.
Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to make it to Europe. The oil-rich country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.
Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the country’s lengthy borders with six nations. The migrants are crowded into ill-equipped vessels, including rubber boats, and set off on risky sea voyages.
Those who are intercepted and returned to Libya are held in government-run detention centers rife with abuses, including forced labor, beatings, rapes and torture — practices that amount to crimes against humanity, according to UN-commissioned investigators.
The abuse often accompanies efforts to extort money from families of those held, before the migrants are allowed to leave Libya on traffickers’ boats.
UN says at least 55 migrants drowned in shipwreck off Libya
https://arab.news/54gbh
UN says at least 55 migrants drowned in shipwreck off Libya
- Boat was carrying at least 60 Europe-bound migrants and had set off from the town of Garabouli
- Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya
US allies, foes alarmed by capture of Venezuela’s Maduro
- Countries such as Russia and China, which had ties with Maduro’s government, were quick to condemn the operation but alarm also shared by France and EU
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed” by the US strikes
PARIS: The US military operation that led to the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday sparked alarm across the international community, with allies and foes of Washington and Caracas expressing disquiet.
US President Donald Trump said Maduro and his wife would be taken to New York to face federal charges after military strikes and an operation which he described as looking like a “television show.”
The Venezuelan government decried what it termed a “extremely serious military aggression” by Washington and declared a state of emergency.
Countries such as Russia and Iran, which had longstanding ties with Maduro’s government, were quick to condemn the operation but their alarm was also shared by Washington’s allies including France and the EU.
Here is a rundown of the main reaction.
Russia
Russia demanded the US leadership “reconsider its position and release the legally elected president of the sovereign country and his wife.”
China
Beijing said “China is deeply shocked and strongly condemns the US’s blatant use of force against a sovereign state and its action against its president.”
Iran
Iran, which Trump bombed last year, said it “strongly condemns the US military attack on Venezuela and a flagrant violation of the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Mexico
Mexico, which Trump has also threatened with military force over drug trafficking, strongly condemned the US military action in Venezuela, saying it “seriously jeopardizes regional stability.”
Colombia
Colombian President Gustavo Petro — whose country neighbors Venezuela — called the US action an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America which would lead to a humanitarian crisis.
Brazil
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva slammed the US attacks as a “serious affront” to Venezuela’s sovereignty.
Cuba
Cuba, a strong ally of Venezuela, denounced “state terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people.”
Spain
Spain offered to mediate in the crisis to find a way to a peaceful solution, while calling for “de-escalation and restraint.”
France
France condemned the US operation, saying it undermined international law and no solution to Venezuela’s crisis can be imposed from the outside.
EU
The EU more generally expressed concern at the developments and urged respect for international law, even as it noted that Maduro “lacks legitimacy.”
EU candidate country North Macedonia, along with fellow Balkan nations Albania and Kosovo, backed Washington, however.
“We stand with the United States and the Venezuelan people for freedom and democracy,” North Macedonia FM Timco Mucunski said on X.
Britain
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said all countries should “uphold international law” and added that “the UK was not involved in any way in this operation” as he urged patience in order to “establish the facts.”
Italy
In a rare expression of support for the US operation by a major European country, far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — a Trump ally — argued the US military action in Venezuela was “legitimate” and “defensive.”
Israel
Israel also hailed the operation, saying Washington acted as the “leader of the free world.”
Ukraine
Ukraine — dependent on US support in its war against invading Russia — did not address the legality of a big country like America using military force against a much smaller one like Venezuela.
Foreign minister Andriy Sybiga instead focused on Maduro’s lack of legitimacy and the Venezuelan government’s repression, while backing “democracy, human rights, and the interests of Venezuelans.”
South Africa
South Africa, which Trump accuses of alleged discrimination — and even “genocide” — of minority white Afrikaners, said: “Unlawful, unilateral force of this nature undermines the stability of the international order and the principle of equality among nations.”
UN
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed” by the US strikes, with his spokesman quoting him as saying it could “constitute a dangerous precedent.”
