ByREUTERS

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that at least 50 people had died after a vessel carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire off Libya's coast on Sunday.

The IOM said it had provided medical support to 24 survivors.

Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the Mediterranean since the fall in 2011 of dictator Muammar Gaddafi during a NATO-backed uprising.

As of February 2025, around 867,055 migrants from 44 nationalities were residing in Libya, according to IOM data.

Crew of the migrant search and rescue ship Sea-Watch 5, operated by the German NGO Sea-Watch,hold Anes, 2, during a rescue operation for migrants aboard an overcrowded boat in the Search and Rescue (SAR) zone in the central Mediterranean, off Libya, August 11, 2025.
Crew of the migrant search and rescue ship Sea-Watch 5, operated by the German NGO Sea-Watch,hold Anes, 2, during a rescue operation for migrants aboard an overcrowded boat in the Search and Rescue (SAR) zone in the central Mediterranean, off Libya, August 11, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki)

Other incidents on the Libyan coast

At the end of August, Libya’s coast guard opened fire on a rescue vessel searching for Sudanese migrants in international waters, according to the humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee.