By Sami Zaptia.
London, 5 August 2016:
The Libyan Coast Guard (LCG) has reported that 10,246 migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast up to 28 July in 47 different maritime incidents, according to an IOM Libya Migration and Assistance report published last week.
In total, there were 10,856 people/bodies involved in these incidents sadly leaving 219 bodies that were successfully retrieved but still with an estimated 413 recorded as missing.
Looking at the bigger picture, the report said that up to 27 July 2016, 89,062 arrivals were recorded by sea to Europe through the Central Mediterranean route, with 2,606 deaths recorded. Of these, 122 had been reported in the month of July alone.
The report said that the number of fatalities in 2016 remains higher than the same period last year when 1,894 were reported for the same period.
‘‘Migrants continue making the perilous journey at great risk, travelling under precarious conditions and on ill-equipped boats, leaving them highly vulnerable to both arduous travel and exploitation of organized criminal networks along the way’’, concluded the IOM report.
