A group of migrants spent more than a week adrift in the Mediterranean off Tobruk in eastern Libya after their boat broke down, according to the Red Crescent. At least 17 people are reported to have died, and seven people were rescued.
At least 17 migrants died and seven people were rescued off the Libyan coast, the Libyan Red Crescent said on Wednesday (April 29).
The group had been stranded at sea for eight days after their boat broke down, according to the Red Crescent. Naval forces and coast guards of the Libyan National Army, alongside Red Crescent workers, reportedly spent eight hours recovering the bodies and rescuing survivors. The operation took place near Tobruk, in eastern Libya, close to the border with Egypt.
The nationalities of the people on the boat have not been made public. However, Red Crescent said it provided aid to survivors in partnership with the UN refugee agency UNHCR, suggesting the rescued people were migrants.
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Mediterranean crossings becoming even more deadly
Thousands of people attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea in small boats from Libya to Europe, primarily Italy, each year. This can be extremely dangerous. More than 26,700 people have died on the central Mediterranean migration route since 2014, according to the UN migration agency IOM.
Observers have warned that crossing the Mediterranean in small boats has become even more deadly for migrants due to recent developments that include increasingly restrictive border policies and limits placed on private rescue operations at sea, which are making the already perilous route even more dangerous.
Libya is currently the primary transit country for migrants attempting to reach Europe from northcentral and northeastern Africa, though arrivals in Italy have decreased. More than 7,000 people have arrived from Libya in Italy so far this year, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. During the same period last year, it was nearly 14,000 people.
With Reuters, AFP
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