About 150 migrants are feared drowned after two wooden boats full of refugees capasized in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya on Thursday. It's believed the boats were headed for Europe when the tragedy struck. A similar incident had occured in May, which left 65 people dead, after their boat sank off the coast of Tunisia.

A spokesman for Libya’s coastguard, Ayoub Qasim, said the two boats were carrying 300 people when they capsized near Al-Khums, about 120 kms east of Libya’s capital, Tripoli. Qasim said over 140 people were rescued by the local fishermen. He confirmed that the coast guard has so far recovered only one body. The International Organization for Migration, in a Twitter post, confirmed that more than 150 people were feared drowned while 145 were rescued and returned to Libya after the incident.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), according to the Guardian, said the number of confirmed deaths on the Libya to Europe route was 164 since the start of the year, fewer than in previous years. The UN said the journey for the refugees was becoming more dangerous, with one in four people dying at sea before reaching Europe.

Migrants have been pouring out of Libya for Europe ever since the 2011 uprisings toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Libya is also the main point of departure for migrants and refugees alike escaping poverty in the war-torn Middle East and Africa.

Refugees Mediterranean
Migrants step over dead bodies while being rescued by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO in the Mediterranean Sea, some 12 nautical miles north of Libya, on Oct. 4, 2016. Twenty-eight Europe-bound migrants were found dead on a day of frantic rescues off Libya, including at least 22 in an overloaded wooden boat, an AFP photographer and the Italian coastguard said Getty Images

The agency’s spokesperson for the Mediterranean, Charlie Yaxley, said urgent action is needed to save lives at sea and prevent people from getting on these boats in the first place by offering safe, legal alternatives. Yaxley said the horrific event highlights once again the dire need for a shift in approach to the Mediterranean situation.

Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said these relentless tragedies should be preventable. Sunderland said that instead of conducting European search and rescue in the Mediterranean, the EU has pulled its forces out. “Instead of supporting non-governmental rescue operations, EU countries have thrown every obstacle in their way. Instead of taking responsibility themselves, EU countries have been propping up the Libyan coast guard without the resources or dedication to save lives at sea,” she said.

The UN has confirmed this as the worst Mediterranean tragedy for 2019. The UNHCR commissioner, Filippo Grandi, called on European nations to resume rescue missions in the Mediterranean, that was put to a stop after a EU decision. Grandi appealed for an end to migrant detentions in Libya. “Safe pathways out of the North African country are needed before it is too late for many more desperate people,” he said.

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