Boat Capsized near Libya, Dozens of Migrants Presumed Dead

reporter 1222 — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 09:05:36 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The UN migration agency said Tuesday that a boat carrying migrants bound for Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, leaving at least two dozen people drowned or missing and presumed dead, the latest shipwreck off the North African country.

Safa Msehli, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration, told AP that Libya’s coast guard intercepted three boats on Monday, and one of them had capsized.

She said the coast guard retrieved two bodies, and survivors reported 22 others were missing and presumed dead.

At least 45 survivors on the three boats were returned to the shore. All migrants were men, with a majority from Egypt and Morocco, she said.

“This new tragedy signals yet again the need for increased search and rescue capacity in the Mediterranean. Instead, we are seeing restrictions on NGOs and long, unnecessary stand-offs,” Msehli said.

The shipwreck was the latest maritime disaster involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe.

In August, a boat carrying dozens of migrants capsized leaving at least 45 people drowned or missing and presumed dead, marking the largest number of fatalities in a single shipwreck off the coast of the North African country.

Libya, which descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, has emerged as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe.

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Refugees boat drown off coast in Turkey

reporter 1222 — Sun, 12 Jan 2020 11:13:08 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Eleven refugees, including eight children, have died after their boat capsized off the western coast in Turkey.

Turkish state Anadolu news agency said on Saturday that the 11 refugees died on Saturday when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Turkey. Eight others were rescued from the sea near the town of Cesme, on the Aegean coast, it said.

The nationalities of the victims were not immediately known.

The incident came just hours after another boat sank in the Aegean near the Greek island of Paxi, leaving at least 12 dead.

Turkey has taken in around four million asylum seekers, the majority of them from Syria. The country is one of the main transit routes for those fleeing conflicts in the Middle East who aim to reach Europe largely via Greece.

In an unprecedented refugee influx, over one million refugees arrived in the European Union (EU) countries in 2015.

An agreement reached in March 2016 between Ankara and the EU succeeded in considerably reducing the number of people arriving in Europe as Turkey agreed to settle them. Last year, however, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “open the gates” again if the US and the EU refused to aid Ankara resettle the Syrian refugees in their own country.

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Boat Capsized near Libya, Dozens of Migrants Presumed Dead

Refugees boat drown off coast in Turkey