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http://bigstory.ap.org/article/63476a0c834649a0b425f6da5b4c998d/red-crescent-74-bodies-migrants-wash-ashore-libya 

Red Crescent: 74 bodies of migrants wash ashore in Libya 

MAGGIE MICHAEL 

Associated Press February 21, 2017 

CAIRO (AP) — Scores of bodies of African migrants washed ashore in Libya, in the western city of Zawiya on the Mediterranean Sea, a spokesman for the Libyan Red Crescent said on Tuesday. 

The drownings — at least 74 bodies were found in Zawiya — are the latest tragedy at sea after migrant deaths rose to record levels along the Libya-Italy smuggling route over the past months. 

The Rec Crescent's spokesman Mohammed al-Misrati told The Associated Press that the bodies were found on Monday morning and that the Red Crescent workers retrieved them between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. 

He said that a torn rubber boat was found nearby and that he expected more bodies to surface as such boats usually carry up to 120 people. Earlier, al-Misrati mistakenly told the AP that the bodies surfaced overnight. 

The aid agency posted on its Twitter account photographs of dozens of bodies in white and black body bags, lined up along the shore. Al-Misrati said the local authorities would take the bodies to a cemetery in the capital of Tripoli that is allocated for unidentified persons. 

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. 

In Libya, the turmoil engulfing this North African country 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. 

Libya 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 labor 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 Moammar Gadhafi. 

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

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This story has been corrected to show following new information that the bodies washed ashore on Monday, not Tuesday.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/refugee-crisis-migrant-boat-disasters-mediterranean-sea-libya-74-beach-zawiyah-crossings-a7590966.html 

More than 70 refugees wash up dead on Libyan beach after boat disaster attempting to cross Mediterranean Sea 

Number of refugees drowned attempting boat journeys to Europe passes 300 for 2017 

Lizzie Dearden Tuesday 21 February 2017 

More than 70 refugees have drowned in the latest boat disaster in the Mediterranean Sea as deaths on the crossings between Libya and Italy reach record highs. 

The Libyan Red Crescent said the bodies of 74 migrants had washed ashore near the city of Zawiyah, which is a hub for smugglers. 

Photos showed dozens of body bags lined up along the beach, which was littered with debris as large waves crashed on the shore. 

The boat is believed to have capsized after being launched towards Europe. Dinghies are routinely overloaded with around 150 people and the fate of others on board was unclear. 

A spokesperson for the Red Crescent said the circumstances of the disaster were unclear and that the bodies would be buried at a cemetery allocated to unidentified people in Tripoli. 

The latest disaster pushes the number of refugees killed attempting boat crossings to Europe this year to around 330, although the number is believed to be an underestimate as not all bodies washed up in Libya are recorded by the United Nations and victims are not always found. 

Crossings have continued through the winter, despite treacherous conditions at sea, and the EU has been partly blamed for spiralling death rates after smugglers switched from wooden fishing vessels to flimsy dinghies that are harder for security agencies to detect. 

More than 5,000 refugees were drowned, suffocated or died of hypothermia at sea in 2016 - the vast majority on the Central Mediterranean route from Libya, which is now the deadliest crossing in the world. 

European leaders met in Malta earlier this month to discuss efforts to stem the crisis but resolutions to increase funding and support for Libyan authorities were criticised amid allegations of widespread human rights abuses. 

The country remains divided between battling militias as its civil war enters a fifth year, with militant groups kidnapping, detaining and ransoming migrants or forcing them into labour as a source of income. 

Nato has received a request from the Libyan government for support, while world leaders agreed to help bolster its capability at a summit in Malta earlier this month and Italy has pledged millions of euros in funding for anti-smuggling initiatives. 

The Royal Navy has been training the Libyan coastguard since October and the British government is part of a £1.7m programme to improve the conditions in detention centres, as well as pledging £5.8m aid for Libya. 

The Ministry of Defence said it was supporting the country's Government of National Accord and would take alleged human rights abuses into consideration.