Migrants drown off Libyan coast
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
17:20 Mecca time, 14:20 GMT
At least 21 people have drowned and 213 more are missing presumed dead after three Europe-bound boats sank in separate incidents, the International Organisation for Migration says.
The boats sank off the coast of Libya and were carrying migrants to Italy, IOM officials said on Tuesday.
"A boat with 257 migrants on board sank on Sunday off the coast of Libya. Twenty-three people were saved and 21 bodies were retrieved", Laurence Hart, the IOM chief of mission in Tripoli, Libya's capital, told the AFP news agency.
An earlier IOM toll out of the organisation's Geneva headquarters put the number of missing at 300.
The boats capsized in high winds and heavy rains. Officials said search operations were ongoing but hopes of finding survivors were fading.
Hart told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the authorities were still updating casualty figures.
"There are rumours about two other boats ... but it is not confirmed if these are genuine fishing boats or boats carrying migrants. There is no more radio contact with these two boats."
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva said on Tuesday that Egyptians, Tunisians and Africans were all aboard boats that that were wrecked around 30km off the Libyan coast.
"We are shocked by the reports of hundreds of people trying to reach Europe missing off the coast of Libya," Ron Redmond, the UNHCR spokesman, said in a statement.
Libyan officials said it was not yet clear whether the boats all sailed from Libya, but the country is a popular departure point for African migrants trying to reach Europe for a better life.
Joint sea patrols
The deaths come as Italy and Libya are planning a joint sea patrol in May in a bid to halt the influx of migrants trying to reach European countries.
Roberto Maroni, the Italian interior minister, said on Monday that the patrols would begin on May 15, and he expected that day to "mark the end" of illegal migration from North Africa.
"We have done everything possible to prevent arrivals," he said.
"We have signed a deal with Libya and the Libyan government is committed to launch on May 15 patrols along the coasts with six vessels.
"Until then, we will continue to ask the Libyan authorities to intensify controls, but I guess that there will still be arrivals," Maroni said.
Nearly 37,000 immigrants deemed illegal landed on Italian coasts last year, a 75 per cent rise from 2007, according to the Italian interior ministry.
Rights groups say most migrants risk their lives in treacherous waters trying to reach Europe hoping to escape poverty in their home countries.
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