At least 15 migrants died in the sinking of their boat off Libya on Tuesday, the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Wednesday (October 21st).
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At least 15 migrants are presumed dead after the sinking of their boat on Tuesday off Sabratha,
" 70 km west of Tripoli.
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Five survivors were brought ashore by fishermen,
" Federico Soda, head of the IOM mission in Libya, tweeted on Wednesday.
As of Tuesday evening, more than 70 other migrants were intercepted and brought back to Libyan soil by the coast guard, added Federico Soda.
Smugglers and traffickers take advantage of the chaos
Despite persistent violence since the fall of Muammar Gadhafi's regime in 2011, Libya remains an important transit point for migrants fleeing instability in other parts of Africa and the Middle East and seeking to reach the Europe.
Smugglers and traffickers take advantage of the chaos that reigns in this Mediterranean country, located some 300 km from the Italian coast and today torn between two rival powers: the Government of National Unity (GNA), recognized by the UN and based in Tripoli , and the Eastern authorities allied with Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Last week, the GNA announced the arrest of a former Libyan coast guard, Abd al-Rahman al-Milad, 30, under UN sanctions and wanted for human trafficking.
Former captain of a coast guard unit in Zaouia (45 km west of Tripoli), this local baron of all kinds of trafficking was the subject of an Interpol notice after a request from the sanctions committee of UN Security Council in June 2018. Since January 2020, around 10,000 migrants have been intercepted at sea and brought back to Libya by the Libyan coast guard, according to the IOM.
