The International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed that more than a thousand migrants have died this year trying to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe, after the sinking of a boat off the coast of Libya, which left at least 42 missing and only seven survivors.

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The tragedy occurred last week in waters near the Bouri oil field in northwestern Libya and is the latest in a series of shipwrecks that reflect the lethal nature of this migratory route, considered the deadliest in the world.

According to IOM, the inflatable boat had 49 people on board, from Sudan, Nigeria, Cameroon and Somalia. The seven survivors were rescued after six days adrift, in extreme conditions of hunger, thirst and dehydration.

“More than a thousand migrants have lost their lives so far in 2025 in the central Mediterranean. This shipwreck is another reminder of the urgency of establishing rescue mechanisms and safe migration routes,” said the IOM spokesperson in Geneva.

Libya remains the main starting point for those fleeing poverty and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa and the Horn of Africa, hoping to reach Italy or Malta. Political lawlessness and the presence of human trafficking networks have turned the country into an epicenter of exploitation and abuse.

In 2024, IOM recorded 2,452 deaths of migrants and refugees in the Central Mediterranean.

This year, the figure has already exceeded a thousand victims, despite international calls to strengthen search and rescue operations.

“Each shipwreck shows the absence of political will and the indifference of the European powers in the face of a humanitarian crisis that repeats itself year after year,” said a statement from the Mediterranean Network for Human Rights.

During a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, several countries – including Spain, Norway, the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone – demanded that the Libyan government close migrant detention centres, where torture, sexual abuse and murders have been documented.

Humanitarian organizations have denounced that thousands of people are being held in inhumane conditions, often without trial or medical assistance. “The Mediterranean cannot continue to be a cemetery. States must guarantee safe and legal migration routes and respect the rights of those seeking protection,” IOM reiterated.

Experts warn that the lack of coordination between European countries, the tightening of migration policies and the criminalisation of sea rescue aggravate the situation. “Without substantive solutions, every figure we give is lives lost at sea. It is a human tragedy that repeats itself year after year, in the face of the indifference of the international community,” IOM warned.

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