A charity rescue ship recovered the bodies of 11 migrants off the coast of Libya on Friday after saving more than 160 people from boats near the North African country, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
MSF’s Geo Barents search and rescue vessel rescued 146 migrants in two operations and found another 20 in a separate boat. During the mission, they also retrieved the bodies of 11 migrants seen floating in the sea by a spotter plane.
“We do not know the precise cause of this tragedy, but we know that people continue to die in a desperate attempt to reach safety. This slaughter must end,” MSF stated on social media platform X.
The Sea Watch group, whose plane spotted the bodies, reported unsuccessful attempts to contact Libya’s coast guard to retrieve the dead. “This is what happens in the Mediterranean, even when nobody sees it,” the group said in a statement.
The United Nations has recorded over 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014, making it the world’s most dangerous migrant crossing.
Italy has urged Tunisia and Libya to do more to prevent migrants from embarking on these perilous sea journeys. Additionally, Italy has imposed restrictions on rescue ship operations, claiming they encourage more people to attempt crossing to Europe—a charge that the charities deny.
Highlighting these restrictions, Italy directed the Geo Barents to take the rescued migrants to the northern port of Genoa, more than 650 nautical miles from their position, bypassing closer ports in Sicily. “This will significantly delay assistance for the … survivors who endured a lot already,” MSF said.