At least 50 Sudanese refugees die as boat catches fire and sinks off Libya

At least 50 Sudanese refugees died over the weekend when their boat caught fire and sank off the coast of Libya while en route to Greece, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported on September 18.

The vessel went down on September 14, approximately 60 kilometres (about 40 miles) off the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk, the UN migration agency said, according to US media.

Earlier reports indicated the boat was carrying 75 Sudanese refugees, of whom only 24 were rescued.

The Libyan Red Crescent confirmed on September 15 that bodies were recovered along the coast — about 60 kilometres west of Tobruk and roughly 90 kilometres east of the city — but it remained unclear whether these belonged to the Sudanese migrants. The organisation did not release additional details.

In a separate incident, authorities in the western Libyan coastal city of Zuwara rescued 35 migrants on September 16, including five women and a child, from a boat off the coast.

Libya has long served as a key transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty across Africa and the Middle East. The latest tragedy adds to a growing toll: earlier this month, a migrant boat capsized off Libya, leaving one dead and 22 missing, while in December at least 61 migrants, including women and children, drowned off the country’s western coast.

According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, at least 434 migrants have been reported dead and 611 missing off Libya in the past eight months alone.

The ongoing crisis stems from Libya’s prolonged instability following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocratic leader Moammar Gadhafi.

By Tamilla Hasanova