"31 [migrants] were on board. 17 survived. Others are still missing," the UN refugee agency UNHCR wrote in a post on Facebook published on Sunday, March 1.

The UN agency expressed its "condolences to the families of those who lost their lives."

According to a report by the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP), no details have yet been released about the nationalities of the people on board the boat. However, many leaving from eastern Libya aim to make the crossing towards the southern Greek island of Crete.

In recent years, the number of migrants setting off from eastern Libya has increased. Since the fall of former Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been divided into two main sections. The UN-recognized authorities in the western half of the country and a rival authority led by the commander-in-chief of the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

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Dangerous migration routes

The Central Mediterranean route from North African countries like Libya towards Italy and Greece is described as one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world. The bodies of those believed to be migrants lost at sea wash up on the shores of islands like Crete and along the Italian coastline.

In recent weeks, tens of bodies have been discovered in various parts of the Mediterranean. The authorities are still investigating their identities, and some were reported to be in a state of decomposition, suggesting they may have been involved in incidents during the passage of Cyclone Harry across the Mediterranean in the first few weeks of the year.

At least 606 people have died in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year, according to IOM estimates and at least 2,185 people went missing in the Mediterranean in 2025.

Some organizations have estimated that hundreds, if not a thousand people may have gone missing when their boats got into trouble on those routes towards Europe.

In conjunction with the release of IOM data regarding the numbers of deaths on migration routes all over the world, IOM Director General Amy Pope last week declared: "The continued loss of life on migration routes is a global failure we cannot accept as normal. These deaths are not inevitable."

According to IOM Libya's weekly updates, just 67 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya between February 15 and 21. Since the beginning of the year, that number stands at 1,075, updated to February 21.

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Drone technology and surveillance off Crete

Recently, the Greek authorities launched an Israeli-built Heron 2 drone. The aircraft, reports the news agency Associated Press (AP), is being used to scan for boats along the 350-kilometer stretch of sea between Libya and Crete. It can even detect activity hidden below deck.

The route from Libya towards Crete is longer than that between Turkey and the eastern Greek islands or even Libya to the Italian island of Lampedusa. The more time spent at sea, the greater the dangers for migrants, who are often launched to sea on unseaworthy boats with little or no expertise in navigation.

Recently, Greek authorities discovered the bodies of four migrants and rescued 20 from a boat that had set off from Libya and got into distress tens of nautical miles off Crete. Around 30 people are believed to be missing from this craft. The Egyptian Foreign Office last week declared that at least 18 of the missing migrants from that boat are Egyptian.

A Frontex official operating the drone from Crete’s Tympaki airfield told AP, "this asset is of critical importance." Mariusz Kawczynski is a senior Frontex operations official. "There is no substitute for modern technology to have eyes for Europe of the threats that are coming to our borders."

Voluntary returns

Separately, voluntary return programs from Libya are ongoing. Last week, 175 migrants were sent back from Benghazi to Dhaka in Bangladesh via the IOM's voluntary return program, with support from the EU. A total of 478 migrants were returned home from Tripoli to Bamako in Mali and 340 from Misrata / Benghazi to Lagos in Nigeria, stated IOM Libya on its X page.

UNHCR Libya urged that global efforts need to be "doubled to stop conflicts and expand safe and legal paths, so that no one has to risk their lives in search of safety."

Last week, 164 Sudanese refugees embarked on one such legal pathway. UNHCR Libya posted on February 26 on its Facebook page that the group boarded a flight to the Netherlands. One of those on the flight, Yazen a small child, said how “excited” she was at the news she was going to travel.

Heleen Baartmans, the Deputy Dutch Ambassador to Libya, met with some of the group ahead of the flight at a UNHCR facility in Tripoli. She told a UNHCR video that the families on board the flight were traveling via the "Emergency Transit Mechanism." Baartmans said that the Netherlands is "proud to support efforts that allow refugees to move forwards with dignity and in a controlled manner."

Baartmans added that the group would fly first to Rwanda and later "some of these families will be welcomed in the Netherlands."

With AFP and AP

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