A boat carrying dozens of migrants overturns off the coast of Libya, causing the deaths of more than 60 people – The Week reported.
The boat was carrying 86 migrants when strong waves swamped it off the western Libyan coastal town of Zuwara and that 61 migrants drowned, according to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration.
Libya has become the poorest country in recent years because of the 2011 uprising and thereby the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, while the central Mediterranean remains one of the most dangerous migration routes.
Over 2,250 people died on this route this year, according to Flavio Di Giacomo, an IOM spokesperson.
The main reason for the high level of danger is that traffickers cram migrants into poorly equipped boats, including rubber dinghies, and send them to dangerous sea areas. Those who fail to leave are imprisoned.
