As Libya continues to be rocked by instability and violence, a high number of migrants remain trapped inside Libya, many of whom might choose to head towards Europe by sea, according to the International Organisation for Migration.
In its latest Libya Situation Report, the IOM said that for many migrants, Libya was a country of transit. However, in the last few months, IOM staffers met many other migrants who had been living permanently in Libya but who recently decided to leave the country and travel to Italy by sea.
Those migrants who managed to reach the Italian coast often reported that violence was escalating in Libya, with thousands waiting to depart the country as soon as possible.
Many migrants have been waiting to leave for months inside so-called “connection houses”, avoiding the prevalent bad weather conditions during March, where they often become victims of brutal violence and abuse perpetrated by smugglers.
Many migrants have been waiting to leave for months inside so-called connection houses
It is estimated that some 5,000 migrants lost their lives last year at sea or in remote deserts or mountains.
This makes 2014 the deadliest year on record, with double the number of the previous year’s deaths. The highest death toll was in the Mediterranean, where over 3,000 people drowned after embarking on unseaworthy boats.
This trend has also continued into the first months of 2015, with an estimated 300 migrants having perished in one single incident on February 11, when several migrant boats got into difficulties due to extremely bad weather conditions. As many as 700 migrants were feared dead on Sunday after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean.
In numbers
• In the first three months of 2015, Italy registered a total of 10,165 migrants arriving on its shores – a slight drop from the same period last year.
• Some 2,800 migrants were rescued off the Italian coast during the first weekend of April alone, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 15,000. The majority of these migrants came from Libya and are sub-Saharan Africans, Eritreans, Syrians, Somalis and Ethiopians.
• While the vast majority of migrants were adult males, there were also significant numbers of women and children, particularly unaccompanied minors.
• The IOM has managed to organise the safe return of 793 migrants of 18 different nationalities, mostly via Tunisia or directly out of Tripoli.
• More than 2,900 internally displaced families and 1,600 migrants have benefited from non-food items and hygiene kits in different parts of Libya, including those in a number of migrant detention centres.