The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Wednesday that a rubber dinghy carrying at least 60 migrant people who had departed from Libya for Europe sank off the Libyan coast: 55 drowned, with several others dispersed. Five people survived the sinking and were brought ashore by the Libyan coastguard: three Pakistani men, an Egyptian and a Syrian child. The boat had departed from the Libyan city of Garabouli, east of Tripoli, and capsized shortly after. The reason for the shipwreck is not clear, but it is not uncommon for the boats on which migrants are transported in the central Mediterranean to be unsafe and unsuitable for long journeys. According to data from the agency, 2023 has so far been the deadliest year for migrants trying to cross the central Mediterranean since 2017.
