A new refugee drama off the coast of Libya in the Mediterranean Sea: at least 160 migrants have drowned there in recent days due to the sinking of their boats. Fishermen were able to save some drowning people.
The number of boat people who died on the route from North Africa to Italy has risen to nearly 1,500 this year, according to the International Organization for Migration. In the past week, 466 migrants have been rescued or intercepted at sea and returned to Libya.
The North African country is an important crossroads for tens of thousands of migrants who want to reach Europe. They come mainly from countries in the Sahara and are often preyed by human traffickers. They risk the dangerous crossing in often overloaded and rickety boats.
Libya, which plunged into a major political crisis after the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, has already been criticized for its poor treatment of migrants. At the beginning of October, there was another roundup against refugees in the capital Tripoli.
Child of one year reached without parents by boat Italian island of Lampedusa
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