Some 37 survivors, mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, were rescued by local fishermen
\nTLTP
\nTRIPOLI
\nAt least 45 people have drowned off the coast of Libya in the worst shipwreck in the central Mediterranean of 2020.
\nThe United Nations\u2019 refugee agency and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed the deaths of the migrants and refugees, most of whom had come to Libya from sub-Saharan Africa.
\n\u201cSome 37 survivors, mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, were rescued by local fishermen and later detained upon disembarkation,\u201d the statement said.
\n\u201cThey reported to IOM staff that 45 others, including five children, lost their lives when the vessel\u2019s engine exploded off the coast of Zuwarah,\u201d it said, referring to a town in western Libya that has become a hub for migrant trafficking.
\nIn light of the disaster the UN has called for an increase in the capacity for search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea.
\nAt least 302 people have been killed on the central Mediterranean route since the start of 2020.
\nThe number of people fleeing Libya has increased in the summer months. Thousands have been returned to the war-torn country despite escalating violence there.
\nThe burden of search and rescue has shifted from Europe, the hoped-for destination of the migrants, to the Libyan coast guard. The UN has said 7,000 people have returned to the North African country this year despite assertions from the IOM, UNHCR and international rescue NGOs that Libya cannot be designated a safe port for migrants to disembark.
\nThe country has been plunged into instability over the past nine years since the removal of Muammar Qaddafi, who ruled the country for 40 years, and the start of an internecine civil war in 2014.
\nThe EU\u2019s mission to rescue migrants in the central Mediterranean, Operation Sophia, was shelved in March.
\nIts replacement mission, Operation Irini, has been handed the task of enforcing the long-flouted UN arms embargo on Libya but has no meaningful emphasis on migrant rescue.
\nInternational NGOs such as Medecins Sans Frontiers, Sea-Watch and SOS Mediterranee, which operate rescue vessels in the central Mediterranean, have reported ongoing hostility from European governments towards their work.
\nTheir rescue ships are regularly detained in port for prolonged periods by what they have said are nuisance inspections.
\nAt the same time, safeguards in place following the outbreak of the coronavirus have also hampered the turnaround time for the rescue ships.
\nEurope\u2019s response to the migrant crisis has been hobbled by infighting. At the other end of the continent\u2019s migration routes, Britain, which left the EU formally this year, has found itself in the beginnings of a standoff with France over how to address illegal immigration across the English Channel.
\nA 16-year-old Sudanese boy was found dead on a French beach on Wednesday after he tried to reach the UK in a dinghy, which was punctured with a shovel he was using as an oar. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some 37 survivors, mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana, were rescued by local fishermen TLTP TRIPOLI At least 45 people have drowned off the coast of Libya in the worst shipwreck in the central Mediterranean of 2020. The United Nations\u2019 refugee agency and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed the deaths of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n