by Aaron Pellish A raft carrying approximately 250 people attempting to migrate from Libya into Europe has sunk off the Libyan coast, leaving more than 200 people drowned. The Libyan Coast Guard reported being able to rescue only 26 of the reported 250 migrants whose boat collapsed while trying to immigrate to Europe on Sunday. The disaster is the most recent in which African and Middle Eastern immigrants have died trying to voyage across the Mediterranean Sea and into Europe. In August, the United Nations refugee agency said 1,900 people from Africa and the Middle East have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to immigrate to Europe this year alone. Most of those people have died since the beginning of June. Libya has become a popular place for African and Middle Eastern people to ship off from in attempts to illegally enter the EU area and gain access and benefits to the privileges of EU citizens. Following the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 and with the surrounding North African countries harshly enforcing laws against trafficking, the Libyan underworld has taken advantage by using the Libyan coast as a port for migrants looking to cross into Malta, which is approximately 350 kilometers from Tripoli, or into Greek and Italian islands in the Mediterranean Sea. In a statement following a series three days in which three different boats with migrants leaving from Libya to Europe capsized in the Mediterranean, killing more than 300 people, the UN refugee agency senior spokesperson Melissa Fleming said the UNHCR office in Tripoli is constantly flooded with refugees and migrants seeking asylum from dangerous countries, and some feel the need to flee to Europe if they can’t be helped in Libya. “This dramatic situation at Europe’s sea borders demands urgent and concerted European action, including strengthened search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean, ensuring that rescue measures are safe and incur minimum risks for those being rescued,” Fleming said. According to The Telegraph, an estimate showed that 19,000 people have been killed in the Mediterranean over the last twenty years while trying to migrate into Europe from Africa.
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