ROME: The bodies of 11 people were retrieved off the Libyan coast on Friday who believed to be migrants, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) NGO said.
“Sadly, after a search operation that lasted over nine hours, the GeoBarents team retrieved the bodies of 11 people who unfortunately lost their lives,” MSF said in a statement via social media.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was alerted to the presence of corpses in the Mediterranean by the German NGO Sea-Watch. On Friday, Sea-Watch reported spotting 11 bodies in the water during a flight with their reconnaissance plane, Seabird.
Several migrants were also rescued during this operation. It remains unclear if these bodies found off the Libyan coast, were victims of a previously unknown shipwreck. While searching for the bodies, MSF encountered a boat and rescued the 20 people aboard. Both NGOs have accused European countries of complicity in these deaths due to their migration policies. Sea-Watch claimed that Libyan authorities chose to leave the bodies in the sea.
“The so-called Libyan coast guard — financed by the EU — ignored our call demanding that the bodies be recovered,” stated Sea-Watch.
Libya remains a major departure point for migrants attempting to reach Europe, with the Italian island of Lampedusa being the nearest European destination. According to Italy’s interior ministry, migrants arrivals in the country have significantly decreased in 2024, with just under 21,800 arrivals since the beginning of the year, compared to nearly 53,300 during the same period last year. Despite the reduction in numbers, the journey remains perilous; the International Organization for Migration reported that over 3,000 migrants went missing in 2023 while attempting to cross the Mediterranean.
