United News of Bangladesh

Two babies are among at least 53 people reported dead or missing after an inflatable migrant boat sank off the coast of Libya, the U.N. migration agency said Monday, highlighting the ongoing dangers faced by those seeking to reach Europe. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the boat carrying 55 African migrants departed from the western Libyan town of Zawiya shortly before midnight on Thursday. Around six hours later, the vessel began taking on water and capsized on Friday morning north of Zuwara. Two Nigerian women survived the disaster and were rescued by Libyan authorities. One woman lost her husband, while the other lost her two children, IOM said. “Trafficking and smuggling networks continue to exploit migrants along the central Mediterranean route,” the U.N. agency stated, noting that these groups profit by sending people on unsafe and overcrowded boats from Libya to Europe. Libya has become a key transit point for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty across Africa and the Middle East, despite the country’s ongoing instability following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi. The IOM’s missing migrants project reports that 484 migrants have died or gone missing along the central Mediterranean route so far in 2026. In 2025, the figure exceeded 1,300. “These repeated incidents underscore the persistent and deadly risks faced by migrants and refugees attempting the dangerous crossing,” the agency said. Human traffickers exploit Libya’s chaos, smuggling migrants across its borders and forcing them onto poorly equipped, overcrowded vessels. Those intercepted and returned to Libya are often held in government-run detention centers, where they face abuses including forced labor, beatings, sexual violence, and torture — acts deemed crimes against humanity by U.N.-commissioned investigators. Migrants are frequently extorted by traffickers or authorities before being allowed to attempt the dangerous journey to Europe, the IOM added.  

 A wooden boat crowded with migrants smashed into rocky reefs and broke apart before dawn Sunday off the Italian coast, authorities said. Rescuers recovered nearly 60 bodies, and dozens more people were missing in the rough waters. Officials feared the death toll could top 100 since some survivors indicated the boat had as many as 200 passengers when it set out from Turkey, United Nations refugee and migration agencies said. At least 80 people were found alive, including some who reached the shore after the shipwreck just off Calabria’s coastline along the Ionian Sea, the Italian Coast Guard said. One of the agency’s motorboats rescued two men suffering from hypothermia and recovered the body of a boy. As sundown approached, firefighters said 59 bodies had been found. One man was taken into custody for questioning after fellow survivors indicated he was a trafficker, state TV said.The boat collided with the reefs in rough, wind-whipped seas. Three big chunks of the vessel ended up on the beach near the town of Steccato di Cutro, where splintered pieces of bright blue wood littered the sand like matchsticks. “All of the survivors are adults,″ Red Cross volunteer Ignazio Mangione said. ”Unfortunately, all the children are among the missing or were found dead on the beach.” A baby was reported among the dead.

At least a dozen people went missing and feared drowned off the coast of Libya after a boat carrying around three dozen migrants bound for Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday, a UN official said.