The tragedy is the latest in a series of maritime disasters involving migrants attempting to reach Europe in search of a better life.
The boat, which was carrying 32 migrants, encountered trouble near the eastern Libyan town of Tobruk. The local coast guard reported that nine individuals were rescued and brought to the port of Tobruk.
According to Abreen, a local aid group that assists migrants in eastern Libya, the boat had departed from Bab al-Zaitoun, located 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of Tobruk.
The vessel reportedly capsized after experiencing a mechanical failure in its engine. The rescued migrants, who were from Egypt and Syria, were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Libya has become a major transit hub for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
In December, at least 61 migrants, including women and children, drowned off the coast of Zuwara, in western Libya. The country descended into chaos following the NATO-backed uprising that ousted and killed longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Since then, human traffickers have exploited the instability, smuggling migrants across Libya’s porous borders with six neighboring countries. These migrants are often packed onto unsafe vessels, including rubber boats, for perilous sea journeys.
According to the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project, at least 434 migrants have died, and 611 remain missing off the coast of Libya in the past eight months alone. During this period, more than 14,100 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya.
In 2023, the IOM reported that 962 migrants died, and 1,563 were missing off Libya’s coast. Approximately 17,200 migrants were intercepted and sent back to Libya last year.
Those intercepted and returned to Libya often face severe human rights abuses in government-run detention centers, where conditions include forced labor, beatings, rape, and torture.
According to U.N.-commissioned investigators, these abuses amount to crimes against humanity. Migrants are frequently subjected to extortion, with traffickers demanding payments from their families before allowing them to attempt the dangerous journey to Europe again.