News24 | At least 50 Sudanese refugees die in boat fire off Libya coast

A file picture of migrants being rescued by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in 2024, among them many women and children. The MSF vessel Geo Barents intercepted two small boats full of migrants navigating towards Europe in the Libyan SAR zone.

• At least 50 Sudanese refugees died when their rubber boat caught fire off Libya’s coast near Tobruk while traveling to Greece.
• The central Mediterranean crossing is considered one of the world’s most dangerous migrant routes.
• The ongoing war in Sudan has pushed over 140 000 refugees into Libya in two years, while Libya’s instability since 2011 has enabled smugglers and human traffickers to exploit desperate migrants.

At least 50 Sudanese refugees have died off the coast of eastern Libya after their boat caught fire, an International Organization for Migration spokesperson told AFP on Wednesday.

“The tragic incident took place when a rubber boat carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire off the coast of Tobruk, Libya, while en route to Greece,” the spokesperson said. “At least 50 lives were lost.”

The IOM said in a post on X the shipwreck occurred on Sunday.

The spokesperson did not provide details of the ages or gender of those on board the boat.

“IOM provided immediate lifesaving medical care to the 24 survivors,” the spokesperson added without clarifying if one last person was still missing.

READ | A Sudanese city is starving: What can be done to help?

Libya is a key transit country for thousands of migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea each year.

At least 456 people died and 420 were reported missing along the central Mediterranean route between 1 January and 13 September, according to the IOM.

Libyan authorities have so far this year intercepted and returned 17 402 migrants to Libya, including 1 516 women and 586 children.

The war in neighbouring Sudan between the army and paramilitaries has pushed over 140 000 refugees into Libya in the past two years, nearly doubling the number of Sudanese refugees in the country.

Many brave near-slavery conditions in Libya, migrants have told AFP, and the dangerous sea crossing in attempts to reach Europe.

The IOM considers the central Mediterranean crossing one of the deadliest migrant routes in the world.

In 2024, 2 573 people trying to reach Europe died in the Mediterranean Sea, it said.

Libya is still plagued by division and instability after years of unrest following the NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

It remains divided between the UN-recognised government in the west and its eastern rival, backed by military commander Khalifa Haftar.

Smugglers and human traffickers have taken advantage of the instability, leading to human rights violations including extortion and slavery, according to rights groups.