SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Numerous refugees from Libya are desperate to reach the Italian coast on a rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean Sea, Jan. 27 2018. They are awaiting the aid of SOS Mediterranee and the Italian coast watch. (Photo: Laurin Schmid/SOS Mediterranee/picture alliance via Getty Images)
After Aerial Bombing Kills Dozens of Migrants in Libya, 82 More Reported Missing at Sea
The separate incidents, less than two days apart, have sparked calls from U.N. officials and human rights advocates for world leaders to pursue humane refugee policies
Jul 04, 2019
On the heels of a deadly airstrike on a migrant detention center in Libya that killed scores of people and triggered fresh calls for the global community to improve its response to the refugee crisis, 82 migrants are missing and feared dead after a boat that departed from the North African country capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.
The inflatable vessel, which was carrying 86 migrants, sank late Wednesday near the Tunisian city of Zarzis.
According to The Associated Press:
Tunisian fishermen came across the sinking boat and were able to pull out four men, but could not find any of the other passengers on the boat, said Lorena Lando, head of the International Organization for Migration [IMO] in Tunisia. One of the four, a man from Ivory Coast, died overnight and the other three remained hospitalized.
IMO spokesperson Flavio Di Giacomo said in an update posted to Twitter Thursday that the migrants "sailed a few days ago from Zwara, Libya."
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for the Middle East and North Africa tweeted that the group was "shocked and sad to see another tragedy happening in the Mediterranean Sea," where vessels have often sunk while attempting to transport migrants from North Africa to Europe.
News of the migrants missing at sea comes as the death toll from the attack earlier this week on the detention facility in Tajoura--a suburb of the Libyan capital Tripoli--reportedly has reached at least 53, with over a hundred more wounded.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, U.N. officials and human rights groups responded to the attack by demanding an independent international investigation to determine who is responsible for the potential war crime and a humanitarian evacuation of migrants who are held in Libya, a major departure point for refugees who try to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
"This brutal slaughter is also a sickening reminder of the deadly consequences of Libya and Europe's callous migration policies," Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, said in a statement Wednesday.
Mughrabi and other human rights advocates urged European leaders to stop ignoring the brutal conditions and abuse that migrants face in Libyan detention centers--and work to provide refugees safe passage out of Libya, which includes making sure those rescued at sea aren't sent back to the war-torn country.
IMO spokesperson Safa Mshli told the AP that despite the widespread outrage provoked by the air raid, "we are not aware of plans to relocate the migrants that remain in Tajoura." Mshli reiterated that "migrants intercepted or rescued at sea should not be returned to Libya, where they will face the same inhumane conditions."
The AP noted that "around 6,000 migrants, most from elsewhere in Africa, are being held in Libya's detention centers after being intercepted by the E.U.-funded coast guard," and "in Tajoura, hundreds of migrants are held in several hangars next to what appears to be a weapon cache."
The United Nations Network on Migration said in a statement Thursday that the air raid "places the spotlight on the often unconscionable conditions in which many migrants are detained, not just in Libya but around the world, and the grave risks they face in detention."
The network called on all countries "to put an end to unnecessary and arbitrary instances of detention, as well as substandard conditions of immigration detention, including overcrowding and lack of access to food, hygiene and health services, to reunite families immediately, and to ensure that no child is ever detained for reasons relating to their, or their parents', migration status."
"Migrant women, men, girls, and boys are entitled to appropriate protection and care, based on individual assessments, in accordance with international human rights law, and with particular respect to their right to liberty," the network said.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
On the heels of a deadly airstrike on a migrant detention center in Libya that killed scores of people and triggered fresh calls for the global community to improve its response to the refugee crisis, 82 migrants are missing and feared dead after a boat that departed from the North African country capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.
The inflatable vessel, which was carrying 86 migrants, sank late Wednesday near the Tunisian city of Zarzis.
According to The Associated Press:
Tunisian fishermen came across the sinking boat and were able to pull out four men, but could not find any of the other passengers on the boat, said Lorena Lando, head of the International Organization for Migration [IMO] in Tunisia. One of the four, a man from Ivory Coast, died overnight and the other three remained hospitalized.
IMO spokesperson Flavio Di Giacomo said in an update posted to Twitter Thursday that the migrants "sailed a few days ago from Zwara, Libya."
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for the Middle East and North Africa tweeted that the group was "shocked and sad to see another tragedy happening in the Mediterranean Sea," where vessels have often sunk while attempting to transport migrants from North Africa to Europe.
News of the migrants missing at sea comes as the death toll from the attack earlier this week on the detention facility in Tajoura--a suburb of the Libyan capital Tripoli--reportedly has reached at least 53, with over a hundred more wounded.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, U.N. officials and human rights groups responded to the attack by demanding an independent international investigation to determine who is responsible for the potential war crime and a humanitarian evacuation of migrants who are held in Libya, a major departure point for refugees who try to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
"This brutal slaughter is also a sickening reminder of the deadly consequences of Libya and Europe's callous migration policies," Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, said in a statement Wednesday.
Mughrabi and other human rights advocates urged European leaders to stop ignoring the brutal conditions and abuse that migrants face in Libyan detention centers--and work to provide refugees safe passage out of Libya, which includes making sure those rescued at sea aren't sent back to the war-torn country.
IMO spokesperson Safa Mshli told the AP that despite the widespread outrage provoked by the air raid, "we are not aware of plans to relocate the migrants that remain in Tajoura." Mshli reiterated that "migrants intercepted or rescued at sea should not be returned to Libya, where they will face the same inhumane conditions."
The AP noted that "around 6,000 migrants, most from elsewhere in Africa, are being held in Libya's detention centers after being intercepted by the E.U.-funded coast guard," and "in Tajoura, hundreds of migrants are held in several hangars next to what appears to be a weapon cache."
The United Nations Network on Migration said in a statement Thursday that the air raid "places the spotlight on the often unconscionable conditions in which many migrants are detained, not just in Libya but around the world, and the grave risks they face in detention."
The network called on all countries "to put an end to unnecessary and arbitrary instances of detention, as well as substandard conditions of immigration detention, including overcrowding and lack of access to food, hygiene and health services, to reunite families immediately, and to ensure that no child is ever detained for reasons relating to their, or their parents', migration status."
"Migrant women, men, girls, and boys are entitled to appropriate protection and care, based on individual assessments, in accordance with international human rights law, and with particular respect to their right to liberty," the network said.
On the heels of a deadly airstrike on a migrant detention center in Libya that killed scores of people and triggered fresh calls for the global community to improve its response to the refugee crisis, 82 migrants are missing and feared dead after a boat that departed from the North African country capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.
The inflatable vessel, which was carrying 86 migrants, sank late Wednesday near the Tunisian city of Zarzis.
According to The Associated Press:
Tunisian fishermen came across the sinking boat and were able to pull out four men, but could not find any of the other passengers on the boat, said Lorena Lando, head of the International Organization for Migration [IMO] in Tunisia. One of the four, a man from Ivory Coast, died overnight and the other three remained hospitalized.
IMO spokesperson Flavio Di Giacomo said in an update posted to Twitter Thursday that the migrants "sailed a few days ago from Zwara, Libya."
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) for the Middle East and North Africa tweeted that the group was "shocked and sad to see another tragedy happening in the Mediterranean Sea," where vessels have often sunk while attempting to transport migrants from North Africa to Europe.
News of the migrants missing at sea comes as the death toll from the attack earlier this week on the detention facility in Tajoura--a suburb of the Libyan capital Tripoli--reportedly has reached at least 53, with over a hundred more wounded.
As Common Dreams reported Wednesday, U.N. officials and human rights groups responded to the attack by demanding an independent international investigation to determine who is responsible for the potential war crime and a humanitarian evacuation of migrants who are held in Libya, a major departure point for refugees who try to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
"This brutal slaughter is also a sickening reminder of the deadly consequences of Libya and Europe's callous migration policies," Magdalena Mughrabi, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, said in a statement Wednesday.
Mughrabi and other human rights advocates urged European leaders to stop ignoring the brutal conditions and abuse that migrants face in Libyan detention centers--and work to provide refugees safe passage out of Libya, which includes making sure those rescued at sea aren't sent back to the war-torn country.
IMO spokesperson Safa Mshli told the AP that despite the widespread outrage provoked by the air raid, "we are not aware of plans to relocate the migrants that remain in Tajoura." Mshli reiterated that "migrants intercepted or rescued at sea should not be returned to Libya, where they will face the same inhumane conditions."
The AP noted that "around 6,000 migrants, most from elsewhere in Africa, are being held in Libya's detention centers after being intercepted by the E.U.-funded coast guard," and "in Tajoura, hundreds of migrants are held in several hangars next to what appears to be a weapon cache."
The United Nations Network on Migration said in a statement Thursday that the air raid "places the spotlight on the often unconscionable conditions in which many migrants are detained, not just in Libya but around the world, and the grave risks they face in detention."
The network called on all countries "to put an end to unnecessary and arbitrary instances of detention, as well as substandard conditions of immigration detention, including overcrowding and lack of access to food, hygiene and health services, to reunite families immediately, and to ensure that no child is ever detained for reasons relating to their, or their parents', migration status."
"Migrant women, men, girls, and boys are entitled to appropriate protection and care, based on individual assessments, in accordance with international human rights law, and with particular respect to their right to liberty," the network said.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.