“There is an alarming increase in deaths at sea off Libya Coast,” said International Organization for Migration (IOM) Libya Chief of Mission Othman Belbeisi.
“Smugglers are exploiting the desperation of migrants to leave before there are further crackdowns on Mediterranean crossings by Europe”, the IOM website quoted Belbeisi as saying on Monday.
Meanwhile, a small rubber boat packed with migrants capsized off AlKhums, east of Tripoli, with an estimated 41 people surviving after rescue on Sunday.
Some 100 people were reported missing by the Libyan Coast Guard.
On Friday, three babies were among the 103, who died in a shipwreck similar to Sunday’s incident, also caused by smugglers taking migrants to sea in completely unsafe vessels.
So far this year, the Libyan Coast Guard has returned some 10,000 people to shore from small vessels.
From Friday to Sunday, close to 1,000 migrants were returned to Libyan shore by the Libyan Coast Guard, who intercepted small crafts as they made their way towards the open sea.
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