90 feared dead in boat capsize

MORE THAN 6,600 HAVE ENTERED EUROPE BY SEA THIS YEAR — IOM

The large number of Pakistanis found dead could hint at a shift in migration trends, officials say |

At least 90 people were feared dead yesterday in the latest migrant tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, the UN migration agency said.

The tragedy happened off the coast of Zuwara in the early hours yesterday, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) spokeswoman Olivia Headon told reporters in Geneva by phone from Tunis.

“At least 90 migrants are reported to have drowned, when a boat capsized off the coast of Libya this morning”, the IOM said in a statement.

Two swim to shore

The agency said that “10 bodies are reported to have washed up on Libyan shores”, including those of two Libyans and eight Pakistanis.

Two survivors from the disaster had swum to shore, while another was rescued by a fishing boat, it added.

The agency has repeatedly issued warnings over the extreme dangers facing refugees and migrants who try to reach Europe via the so-called central Mediterranean route, which connects Libya to Italy.

IOM said yesterday more than 6,600 migrants and refugees had already entered Europe by sea this year, with central Mediterranean route crossings to Italy accounting for nearly 65 per cent of the entries. It voiced surprise that Libyans were among the dead, pointing out that only 29 Libyan nationals were rescued or intercepted trying to cross the Mediterranean in all of 2017, with no Libyan deaths recorded last year.

Asked if it was common to see Libyans among the migrants trying to cross to Europe, IOM spokesman Joel Millman said “we haven’t (really) seen that before.”

“They could have been smugglers,” he said.

The large number of Pakistanis found dead could meanwhile hint at a shift in migration trends.

IOM pointed out that Pakistanis made up the 13th largest group trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe last year, with 3,138 of them arriving in Italy in 2017, and no recorded sea deaths.

Drownings surge

But they have already climbed to third place this year, with an estimated 240 Pakistanis reaching Italy in January, compared to just nine during the same month last year.

Drownings in the Mediterranean began surging in 2013 as Europe’s worst migration crisis since the Second World War began picking up speed, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and elsewhere.