At least 60 migrants, including Pakistanis and Egyptians, feared dead after Libya shipwrecks
TRIPOLI, Libya: At least 60 migrants including Pakistanis and Egyptians are feared dead after a pair of shipwrecks off the coast of Libya over the past week, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The first ship went down on June 12 near a Libyan port in Tripoli, with 21 people, including women and children, reported missing and only five survivors found, the IOM said in a statement Tuesday.
Those lost at sea included Eritrean, Pakistani, Egyptian and Sudanese nationals.
The second wreck took place about 35 kilometers (20 miles) off the port city of Tobruk, with the sole survivor reporting 39 people lost at sea, according to the UN body.
'With dozens feared dead and entire families left in anguish, IOM is once again urging the international community to scale up search and rescue operations and guarantee safe, predictable disembarkation for survivors,' said Othman Belbeisi, the IOM's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the statement, at least 743 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
The deadly route, it said, is 'marked by increasingly dangerous smuggling practices, limited rescue capacity and growing restrictions on humanitarian operations.'
As of June 15, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, migrant landings on the Italian coast were up 15 percent year on year, with most originating in Libya.
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Arab News
a day ago
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What the latest figures reveal about the state of the world's refugees
LONDON: There are not many people who would consider starting over at the age of 103. But for father, grandfather and great-grandfather Jassim, who has spent the past decade in exile in Lebanon with his family, the dramatic end of the Syrian civil war meant he could finally return home. And in May, Jassim did just that. In 2013, after their hometown in Syria's Homs Governorate was caught in the crossfire of the country's bitter civil war, Jassim and the surviving members of his family fled. Not all of them would make the journey to relative safety and a makeshift tent camp near Baalbek in eastern Lebanon. During one period of intense fighting three of his children were killed when a shell fell near the family's house. For Jassim, holding the memory of their loss deep in his heart, the return last month to the town of Al-Qusayr after 12 years as refugees in another country was achingly poignant. 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Overall, the report, which contains the latest statistics on refugees, asylum-seekers, the internally displaced and stateless people worldwide, makes for predictably gloomy reading. As of the end of 2024, it found that 123.2 million people — about one in 67 globally — were forcibly displaced 'as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order.' This figure includes 5.9 million Palestinian refugees. Of the 123.2 million, 42.7 million are refugees seeking sanctuary in a foreign country, and of these about 6.6 million are from countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Unsurprisingly, the largest number of refugees in the region under the UNHCR's mandate in 2024 were from Syria — accounting for 5.9 million. But other numbers, although smaller, serve as a reminder of conflicts currently overshadowed by events in Syria and Gaza. More than 300,000 Iraqi refugees were registered in 2024, along with 51,348 from Yemen, 23,736 from Egypt, 17,235 from Libya and 10,609 from Morocco. Amid the devastation in Gaza since October 2023, and rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank, nearly as many Palestinians have fled as refugees in 2024 — 43,712 — as have been killed in Gaza. Globally, there is a glimmer of hope. In the second half of 2024 the rate of forced displacement slowed and, says UNHCR, 'operational data and initial estimates for 2025 indicate that global forced displacement may begin to fall during 2025.' Indeed, the agency estimates that by the end of April 2025 the total number of forcibly displaced people — a term that includes people displaced within their own country and those seeking refuge in another state — had fallen by 1 percent to 122.1 million. But whether that trend continues depends very much on several factors, said Tarik Argaz, spokesperson for UNHCR's regional bureau for the Middle East and North Africa in Amman, Jordan. There are, Argaz told Arab News, undoubtedly 'signs of hope in the report, particularly in the area of solutions. But during the remainder of 2025, much will depend on the dynamics in key situations. 'While we should keep hopes high, we have to be very careful in interpreting the trends in the international scene,' including 'whether the situation in South Sudan does not deteriorate further, and whether conditions for return improve, in particular in Afghanistan and Syria.' In 2024, about 9.8 million forcibly displaced people worldwide were able to return home, including 1.6 million refugees — the highest number for more than two decades — and 8.2 million internally displaced people — the second highest total yet recorded. 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Al Arabiya
4 days ago
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Two years on: What the Titan submersible teaches the world about wealth inequality
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Is it unrealistic to expect an impeccable collective conscience from a world that is doused in imperfections? After all, prominence is one of the key criteria to decide a story's newsworthiness. And a once-in-a-lifetime exploration trip to see the Titanic shipwreck was undeniably notable; however, the death of hundreds of individuals in search of a better life ought to be equally prominent – if not more. All questions aside, the world would be amiss if it did not at least attempt to reflect on some lessons about wealth equality and the costs of human life. If the American tourism and expedition company was treading the line between bravery and carelessness, are we responsible for the way the world has come to earn and celebrate wealth? How much is too much in this cruel game of disparity, where most struggle in desperation while few engage in excessive indulgence? On the contrary, maybe such arguments only arise in hindsight. 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In financially developed countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the US, a median of 57 percent adults responded that they expect the next generation to be in worse economic standing than their parents. Meanwhile, in some South Asian and Southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, people were more optimistic about their outlook on the economic prospects of their children's generation. A key finding of the study shows that 33 out of the 36 nations polled agree that their country's economic system either needs major changes or a complete reform. This shows that most of us is more likely to believe that wealth inequality needs to be addressed than those who say it is not a problem at all. The discussion probably raises more questions than it answers, which is not the worst thing to jolt a world in need of some active introspection. Because when push comes to shove, money is at the heart of all that happens. The press follows the money. Individuals work around money all their lives. And because nation states chart their path with money in mind, we give rise to poverty, war and injustice - all things that the hundreds of migrants on the fishing boat to Europe were trying to flee.
Arab News
4 days ago
- Arab News
At least 60 migrants, including Pakistanis and Egyptians, feared dead after Libya shipwrecks
TRIPOLI, Libya: At least 60 migrants including Pakistanis and Egyptians are feared dead after a pair of shipwrecks off the coast of Libya over the past week, according to the International Organization for Migration. The first ship went down on June 12 near a Libyan port in Tripoli, with 21 people, including women and children, reported missing and only five survivors found, the IOM said in a statement Tuesday. Those lost at sea included Eritrean, Pakistani, Egyptian and Sudanese nationals. The second wreck took place about 35 kilometers (20 miles) off the port city of Tobruk, with the sole survivor reporting 39 people lost at sea, according to the UN body. 'With dozens feared dead and entire families left in anguish, IOM is once again urging the international community to scale up search and rescue operations and guarantee safe, predictable disembarkation for survivors,' said Othman Belbeisi, the IOM's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. According to the statement, at least 743 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The deadly route, it said, is 'marked by increasingly dangerous smuggling practices, limited rescue capacity and growing restrictions on humanitarian operations.' As of June 15, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, migrant landings on the Italian coast were up 15 percent year on year, with most originating in Libya.
