New massacre in the waters of the Mediterranean: at least 57 died, among them 20 women and two children, while attempting a desperate escape from the North African coasts. This was denounced by the World Organization for Migration (IOM) under the aegis of the UN, according to which the boat sank off the coast of Khoms, a city over 100 kilometers east of the Libyan capital Tripoli.
"Another tragedy. With this shipwreck the estimate of the dead in the Central Mediterranean is approaching almost a thousand (over 980).
Last year at the end of July they were 272. We must no longer hesitate and do everything to strengthen the patrol system at sea. Immediately ", IOM spokesman for the Mediterranean, Flavio Di Giacomo, denounced hotly after this umpteenth slaughter off the coast of Libya.
There is no information on the causes of the shipwreck, probably caused by the waves and the attempt to evade in any way the control of the ships stationed in the area. Migrants, the experts underline, accept conditions that are almost impossible not only to arrive in Europe but also, perhaps above all, to avoid being intercepted and taken back to Libya, where those who return are subject to "arbitrary detention, extortion, disappearances and acts of torture ", the IOM itself has denounced for some time, according to which for the second consecutive year there is an increase in maritime operations along the central Mediterranean route. According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, more than 13,000 migrants have been brought back to the North African country since January, double the number of last year.Data that confirm the estimates of recent weeks, which indicate the doubling of attempts to reach the coasts of Europe.
IOM warned that "these figures are certainly much lower than reality, hundreds of cases of invisible shipwrecks" are reported by NGOs who are in direct contact with those on board or with families.