At least 50 Sudanese refugees have died after a rubber boat carrying 75 people caught fire off the coast of Tobruk, eastern Libya, while en route to Greece, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed on Wednesday.
According to the IOM spokesperson, the fatal shipwreck occurred on Sunday, September 14, 2025. The boat, packed with desperate refugees fleeing war and hardship, burst into flames in the central Mediterranean, one of the world’s deadliest migration routes.
Survivors Rescued
The IOM revealed that 24 survivors were pulled to safety and received emergency medical care. However, it remains unclear if one person is still missing, as no details were provided on the ages or gender of those on board.
Rising Death Toll on Deadly Routes
The IOM’s latest data shows that between January 1 and September 13, 2025, at least 456 people have died and 420 remain missing along the central Mediterranean route alone. In 2024, more than 2,573 migrants perished while attempting to cross into Europe.
Libyan authorities have already intercepted and returned 17,402 migrants this year, including 1,516 women and 586 children, underscoring the scale of the migration crisis.
Sudan War Fuels Exodus
The ongoing war in Sudan between the army and paramilitary forces has driven over 140,000 Sudanese refugees into Libya in the last two years—nearly doubling their population in the country. Many face near-slavery conditions while awaiting perilous sea journeys in the hope of reaching Europe.
Instability in Libya and Human Trafficking
Libya has remained fractured and unstable since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. Today, the nation is split between a UN-recognised government in the west and an eastern administration backed by General Khalifa Haftar.
This chaos has created fertile ground for smugglers and human traffickers, who exploit refugees through extortion, forced labor, and slavery, according to rights groups.
The IOM continues to call for urgent international intervention, describing the central Mediterranean as “the world’s most dangerous migration corridor.”
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