IOM calls for urgent action after Libya boat tragedy

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Monday called for urgent action after at least 53 migrants died or went missing when a rubber boat capsized off the coast of Libya.

The agency said the boat overturned north of Zuwara on Friday.

"Only two Nigerian women were rescued during a search-and-rescue operation by Libyan authorities," the IOM said in a statement, adding that one of the survivors said she losing her husband, while the other woman said she lost her two babies in the tragedy.

The IOM said its teams provided the two survivors with emergency medical care upon disembarkation. 

According to IOM's Missing Migrants Project, more than 1,300 migrants went missing in the Central Mediterranean in 2025. The latest incident brings the total number of migrants reported dead or missing on this route in 2026 to at least 484, including at least 375 reported dead or missing in January alone.

The IOM says trafficking and smuggling networks are exploiting migrants along the route from north Africa to southern Europe and called for stronger international cooperation to tackle these networks.