More than 100 illegal immigrants disappeared in the worst shipwreck of the year in the Mediterranean

"The worst tragedy of the year in the Mediterranean has taken place," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. The official reported that More than 100 illegal immigrants have disappeared after a shipwreck off the coast of Libya.

This survey was confirmed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). According to Safa Msehli, head of communications at this office in Libya, the precarious wooden boat He returned off Khoms, a city east of Tripoli.

In turn, they indicated that others 145 immigrants were saved for the Libyan coastguard. These witnesses to the incident stated that their ship was wrecked and that there were 150 other people on board with them.

General Ayoub Kacem, spokesman of the Libyan Navy, noted that among the people traveling aboard this ship There were many women and babies. "The boat was drifting within 5 nautical miles of the coast, according to survivors' testimonies," he added.

Before the sinking, UNHCR and IOM had registered at least 426 dead people trying to cross the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2019. Another 3,750 were transferred to detention centers.

In the face of persistent insecurity, Libya remains an important transit site for migrants fleeing conflict and instability in other parts of Africa and the Middle East. Desperate, they try to reach Europe and become the victims of the mafias of human traffickers.

UNHCR and other UN agencies have repeatedly called on survivors of this type of sinking are not returned to their country of originbecause in these territories they are imprisoned in inhuman conditions.