42 Migrants Presumed Dead After Rubber Boat Capsizes Off Libya

United Nations officials reported on Wednesday that 42 migrants are missing and presumed dead after a rubber boat capsized off the Libyan coast last week. Only seven survivors were rescued after drifting at sea for six days.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the vessel, carrying 47 men and two women, departed from Zuwara, west of Tripoli, on November 3. Rough seas caused engine failure roughly six hours into the journey, and the boat capsized, throwing all passengers overboard.

Libyan authorities conducted a search and rescue operation near the Al Buri oil field on Saturday. Among the seven rescued were four men from Sudan, two from Nigeria, and one from Cameroon. Tragically, 42 people remain missing, including 29 from Sudan, eight from Somalia, three from Cameroon, and two from Nigeria. Survivors received emergency medical care, food, and water upon being brought ashore.

This incident is the latest in a series of deadly migrant shipwrecks in the central Mediterranean, where more than 1,000 people have died so far this year attempting to cross from North Africa to southern Europe, according to IOM figures.

“With this latest shipwreck, the total has risen even further, reinforcing the urgent need for strengthened regional cooperation, expanded safe and regular migration pathways, and more effective search and rescue operations to prevent further loss of life,” the IOM said.

A European Commission spokesperson emphasized the urgency of tackling the crisis:

“These tragic events once again underline the need to intensify joint efforts with our partners, including Libya, to prevent such dangerous journeys and to combat the criminal networks of migrant smugglers that put lives at risk.”

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that over 1,700 people have died or gone missing on the wider Mediterranean and West Africa Atlantic migration routes this year. Since 2014, around 33,000 migrants are considered dead or missing in the Mediterranean, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.

MSF Relaunches Search and Rescue Operations

In response to the ongoing crisis, the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Tuesday that it is relaunching search and rescue missions in the central Mediterranean, after halting operations in December 2024.

MSF’s new vessel, Oyvon, a smaller and faster ship previously used as an ambulance in Norway, aims to reach migrants in distress more efficiently. Juan Matias Gil, MSF’s search and rescue representative, said:

“We have returned to carry out the duty of rescue for those who find themselves in distress at sea, forced to take unseaworthy boats, after enduring deplorable conditions, detention, abuse, and extortion in Libya.”

The vessel’s crew includes a doctor and a nurse, prepared to treat hypothermia, fuel inhalation, burns, and injuries sustained during migrants’ journeys and detention in Libya.