Daijiworld Media Network - Tripoli

Tripoli, Feb 9: At least 53 migrants, including two infants, are dead or missing after a rubber boat capsized off the coast of northwestern Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Monday. Only two survivors, both Nigerian women, were rescued by Libyan authorities. One survivor lost her husband in the incident, while the other lost two children.

The vessel, carrying 55 people, departed from Al-Zawiya on February 5 and capsized about six hours into the journey near Zuwara, according to survivors. The IOM provided emergency medical assistance to the rescued women and described the Central Mediterranean as one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. The latest tragedy raises the 2026 death toll in the region to at least 484.

The IOM warned that migrant smuggling networks continue to exploit people with unseaworthy vessels and called for safer, legal pathways and protection-focused international responses.

This incident mirrors previous deadly shipwrecks. In November 2025, a rubber boat carrying 49 migrants capsized off Libya, leaving 42 dead. Over 1,000 migrants and refugees were reported dead in the Central Mediterranean in 2025 alone, according to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.

Libya’s Ministry of Defence, under the UN-recognized Government of National Unity, recently conducted precision airstrikes on several smuggling boats at Zuwara Port, about 120 km west of Tripoli. Officials said the strikes targeted trafficking networks without causing civilian casualties and form part of ongoing efforts to curb irregular migration through the Libyan coast.

Libya remains a key transit point for migrants aiming to reach Europe, with instability since 2011 enabling smuggling operations to flourish along its extensive Mediterranean coastline.