A humanitarian tragedy continues off the coast of Libya. The day after the sinking of a boat with nearly 250 people - 145 were rescued and 110 missing - 62 bodies of migrants were recovered, announced Friday, July 26 Libyan relief.
"Libyan Red Crescent units have managed to rescue 62 bodies of migrants," Abdel Moneim Abu Sbeih, an official of the organization, told AFP.
The exact number of migrants aboard the boat sank in the night from Wednesday to Thursday remains uncertain, the figures fluctuating according to sources.
"We will continue operations to recover the bodies thrown back by the sea tonight and tomorrow," Abdel Moneim Abu Sbeih added, confirming that it was not possible to give a total figure of the victims of the sinking.
At least 426 people dead since the beginning of the year
Authorities in Khoms, a town 120 km west of Tripoli and from which the boat sails, are facing difficulties in burying the salvaged bodies, a source in the city's municipality said.
In addition to "problems with legal procedures", they are struggling to "find a place for the burial of victims" of this new tragedy, described by the UN as "worst" tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea this year.
"We need safe and legal routes for migrants and refugees, and any migrant looking for a better life deserves safety and dignity," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Twitter, saying he was "horrified."
The sinking is a "terrible reminder" of the risks taken by migrants wanting to leave Libya for Europe, said Friday the head of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini. "Every life lost is one too many," she insisted.
Before the sinking, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and the IOM had reported at least 426 people dead since the beginning of the year trying to cross the Mediterranean, became the deadliest seaway in the world.
"We stayed in the water for six to seven hours"
"A man from Sudan told us that he saw his wife and children drowning, he was totally disoriented and sat there in shock," said Anne-Cecilia Kjaer, a nurse for MSF, who told is returned to the survivors of the sinking. "Many children could not swim and even those who knew died of exhaustion," she says.
Less than two hours after leaving Wednesday night, the boat was filled with water and the engine stopped. "We stayed in the water for six to seven hours," said one of the survivors, saying he had seen nearly 200 people perish, "men, women, and children."
According to the spokesman of the Libyan navy, General Ayoub Kacem, the boat was "wooden" and "was wrecked within 5 nautical miles of the coast according to survivors' testimonies". The rescued migrants are mostly Eritreans, but there are Palestinians and Sudanese among them, he said in a statement.
Not far from Khoms, about thirty people saved from the water wait in silence, under a shelter open to the four winds, the concrete floor.
"They risk disappearing without a trace in a country at war"
According to IOM figures, at least 5,200 people are currently in detention centers in Libya. Despite the risks of crossing Europe, migrants go to sea, preferring to try their luck rather than stay in Libya, where they are subjected to abuse, extortion and torture, the NGOs explain.
If they are rescued at sea and brought back to Libya, they are usually first greeted by the NGOs on the spot who offer them care and food, and then placed by the Libyan authorities in detention centers, regularly described by NGOs as areas of lawlessness. "They may disappear without a trace in a country at war," worries Anne-Cecilia Kjaer.
With AFP