The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has documented the deaths of nearly 1,000 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea since the beginning of 2026, according to data released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), amid the continued departure of large numbers of migrants from Libya’s coastline.
According to the documented data, at least 180 people have died or gone missing over the past two weeks alone in five separate shipwrecks. The deadliest of these incidents involved the capsizing of a boat in the central Mediterranean after departing from the Tajoura area, carrying approximately 120 migrants. Only 32 people survived, two bodies were recovered, and more than 80 individuals remain missing.
The data also recorded other deadly incidents, including the discovery of 19 bodies aboard a drifting boat that had departed from Zuwara and was found off the coast of Italy’s Lampedusa island. Additional shipwrecks were reported off the coast of Crete in Greece, near Sfax in Tunisia, and close to the Turkish coastline.
CFJ noted that on 28 March, at least 22 people died off the coast of Crete after departing from eastern Libya, while another shipwreck on 30 March near Sfax resulted in the deaths of 19 people, with around 20 others reported missing.
The Committee stated that the recurrence of such incidents reflects the grave risks faced by migrants, particularly in the absence of safe and effective migration pathways and the continued reliance on dangerous maritime routes operated by smuggling networks.
The Committee for Justice calls for strengthening search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, expanding safe and legal migration pathways, and adopting urgent measures to reduce the loss of life at sea, while ensuring the protection of migrants’ rights and safety.
