Accident would add to greater than 1,000 migrant deaths in central Mediterranean crossings this yr.
Printed On 12 Nov 2025
Forty-two migrants, together with 29 from Sudan, eight from Somalia, three from Cameroon and two from Nigeria, have been lacking at sea and presumed useless since their boat overturned off the coast of Libya, in keeping with the United Nations Worldwide Group for Migration (IOM).
Their rubber vessel, filled with 49 migrants, capsized on November 3, six hours after departing the northwestern coastal city of Zuwara, the IOM mentioned on Wednesday, citing survivors.
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Seven of the passengers survived six days adrift at sea and had been rescued on November 8 by a Libyan search and rescue crew, mentioned the IOM.
The accident would mark the newest lethal crossing try within the central Mediterranean Sea, the place greater than 1,000 migrants attempting to succeed in Europe have died this yr, in keeping with figures from the IOM’s Lacking Migrants Undertaking.
‘Pressing want for protected common migration’
The most recent shipwreck demonstrates “the pressing want for strengthened regional cooperation, expanded protected and common migration pathways, and more practical search and rescue operations to forestall additional lack of life”, mentioned the IOM.
It additionally comes amid rising backlash in the direction of the conduct of Libya’s coastguard and different authorities, which have lengthy confronted accusations of violence and abuse in the direction of migrants whereas at sea and inside their borders.
Between 2016 and September 2025, Libya’s coastguard dedicated at the least 60 violent maritime incidents, in keeping with a current report by the NGO Sea-Watch. The incidents included capturing at boats carrying refugees and asylum seekers, abandoning folks at sea and hindering rescue operations.
Final week, a coalition of 13 European search and rescue organisations suspended cooperation with Libya’s maritime rescue coordination centre over alleged rights violations. They accused Libya’s coastguard of being an “illegitimate actor”, amounting to a “decentralised community of armed militias outfitted and educated with EU funds”.
“We won’t be coerced into speaking our operational place to EU-funded armed militias, capturing at folks fleeing to security and our rescue crews,” mentioned the alliance.
The central Mediterranean is the busiest route for irregular journey to the European Union, with greater than 58,000 tried crossings between January and October this yr, in keeping with the EU’s border company Frontex.
Libya, residence to about 867,055 asylum seekers and refugees, has emerged as a essential transit route for these attempting to succeed in Europe.
Rights teams and UN businesses have documented systematic abuse towards refugees and migrants inside Libya, together with torture, rape and extortion.
