Bodies of 74 migrants found on Libyan shore

The bodies of 74 migrants washed ashore on the Libyan coast after their boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea, aides workers said on Tuesday.

The Libyan Red Crescent said the bodies were recovered in the northwestern coastal city of Zawiya.

Red Crescent spokesman Mohammed al-Misrati said bodies were found Monday morning and that he expected more to appear.

Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Migration agency, said 110 people were aboard the dinghy which departed from the western city of Sabratha on Saturday.

Dinghy is a small inflatable rubber boat or life raft

Sabratha, an important archaeological site and a launch point for migrants trying to reach Europe, was briefly seized by the Islamic State in 2016.

The IOM said 13,170 migrants arrived in Europe by sea so far this year, and 272 were dead or missing.

More refugees entered Uganda last year than crossed the Mediterranean

UN migrant deaths in Mediterranean tops record 5,000 this year.

Last week, Fabrice Leggeri, director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, said the Libya-Italy smuggling route across the Mediterranean has seen record numbers of migrant drownings in 2016.

According to Leggeri, migrant deaths along the central Mediterranean route stood at 4,579 for last year, which still might be much less than the true loss of life. That’s compared to 2,869 deaths in 2015 and 3,161 in 2014.

There is little sign of the surge is abating, even during wintertime. There were 228 recorded deaths in January, by far the biggest monthly toll in recent years.

Leggeri blamed the very small dinghies and poor vessels used by the smugglers for the high death rate.

Libya has become a death trap for thousands of migrants, most of them from sub-Saharan African countries, seeking to escape poverty and find a better life in Europe.

The country is split by competing governments and many militias rule on the ground, many of them profiting from smuggling and human trafficking.

Rights groups have documented migrants’ horror journeys involving torture, rape, and forced labour inside Libya.

The country sank into lawlessness following the 2011 uprising that turned into a full-blown civil war that led to the toppling and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Since then, human trafficking has thrived amid Libya’s chaos.