The International Organization for Migration said on the 20th local time that at least 75 people trying to smuggle to Europe drowned in the western Libyan waters on the 17th.
The International Organization for Migration posted on social media on the same day that the stowaways drowned when they were in a shipwreck on boarding through Libya to Europe on the 17th. Another 15 stowaways were rescued by local fishermen and sent to the western Libyan city of Zuwara.
The International Organization for Migration said that with the deaths caused by the shipwreck, more than 1300 stowaways have lost their lives in the Mediterranean this year.
Since 2011, Libya’s political situation has been in constant instability. The government is unable to exercise effective control over the coastline and land borders. Many illegal immigrants from other countries have come to Libya as transit points to smuggle across the Mediterranean to European countries.
