Shipwreck in the Mediterranean: a boat capsizes off the coast of Libya and more than 50 people die

Fifty-three people, including two babies, have died or are missing following the shipwreck of a dinghy off the coast of Libya on Friday. Of the 55 migrants on board, only two survived, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Monday. The inflatable boat, the organization explained, capsized north of Zuwara, Libya, on Friday, and only two Nigerian women were rescued in a rescue operation led by Libyan agencies. According to the survivors' testimony collected by the IOM, several African migrants and refugees set sail from the town of Az-Zawiyah late on February 5, and six hours later, the boat began to flood and capsized. The tragedy raises the number of victims on this route to at least 484 in 2026, just in the first five weeks of the year. But it is believed that there may have been more shipwrecks that went unnoticed due to the extreme weather conditions of recent weeks. "These repeated incidents highlight the persistent and deadly risks faced by migrants and refugees attempting the perilous crossing," the organization reflected in a statement. These 484 deaths are in addition to more than 1,300 migrants who disappeared in the central Mediterranean in 2025, according to official data from the same organization. The IOM also emphasizes in the same statement that stronger international cooperation and protection-focused responses are needed to tackle criminal trafficking networks that exploit the vulnerability of migrants and those at risk, and to save lives. Outsourcing border control

For years the European Union has opted to transfer control of its external borders to third countries. through multi-million dollar agreements to prevent or limit the passage of migrantsOne of them is Libya, a failed state besieged by mafias that traffic migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe via the central Mediterranean route. Although the flow of migrants into EU territory originates from the eastern Mediterranean has been reduced this 2025Departures from Libya have increased significantly. The majority, a total of 66,000 people from Libya, have entered the European Union through Italy. Several NGOs and international organizations have repeatedly denounced the situation of migrants and refugees in Libya. They report that the Libyan coast guard, with the support of the EU and armed groups, intercepts thousands of migrants at sea and forcibly returns them to detention centers in Libya. There, they are subjected to torture, sexual violence, and forced labor. According to Amnesty International, thousands of migrants were forcibly expelled to neighboring countries without any trial or the possibility of seeking asylum.