"I lost my son."
The cry of the desperate mother of the 6-month-old baby who died in the shipwreck
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12 November 2020A shipwreck claimed the lives of at least 74 migrants off Khums, Libya.
This was announced by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), according to which the boat carried over 120 people, including women and children.
Forty-seven survivors were brought ashore by the Libyan Coast Guard and fishermen, 31 bodies were recovered.
The search for the victims continues.
At least 900 people drowned in the Mediterranean this year trying to reach European shores, some due to delays in rescue operations.
More than 11,000 other migrants have been brought back to Libya, a country where they can risk human rights violations, detention, abuse, trafficking and exploitation, as documented by the United Nations, IOM recalls.
Since the beginning of October, around 1,900 migrants have been intercepted at sea and brought back to Libya, while at least 780 of the migrants arriving in Italy in the same period come from the Libyan coast.
The worsening humanitarian conditions of migrants detained in overcrowded centers, widespread arbitrary arrests and detention, extortion and abuse are alarming.
In the absence of any security for the migrants brought back to the country, the Libyan search and rescue zone must be redefined to allow international actors to conduct rescue operations.
IOM argues that Libya is not a safe haven and reiterates its call to the international community and the European Union to take urgent and concrete action to ensure that migrants are no longer returned to this country.
The continuing restrictions on the work of NGOs conducting relief operations must be removed immediately and their interventions must be recognized as activities that respond to the humanitarian imperative to save lives.