2 Egyptians dead, 19 missing after boat capsizes in Mediterranean Sea

Two Egyptians have died and 19 others are missing after a boat carrying asylum seekers capsized In the Mediterranean, off the Libyan coast.

Six of the people on board survived, according to Associated Press.

Local news reports have said nine of the people on board were from Hudud Al-Tawil village in Sharqia Governorate in the north of the country.

Roughly 19,700 people have gone missing in the Central Mediterranean since 2014, and this year some 1,200 people have died or gone missing at sea.

Many are trying to reach Europe using a route that has become available due to the power vacuum in place since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

Last year, Human Rights Watch(HRW) called on the EU to protect the lives and safety of people using the central Mediterranean route, highlighting for concern cooperation with the Libyan coast guard.

Often refugees picked up by Libyan authorities are returned to the country where they are forced into slavery and the subject to sexual abuse or forced into the sex trade.

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Among these refugees are Egyptians. At the end of August last year 11 Egyptians trying to reach Italy drowned off the coast of Libya after their boat sank.

Relatives of the dead said they had paid roughly $3,500 to travel to Libya from their home village of Tilbana in Mansoura.

One week later, news reports revealed that 45 Egyptians were being held in Libya after their boat capsized and 18 people on board drowned.

In April, 28 Egyptians were on board a boat that sank off the coast of Libya, killing 22 people on board.

In 2020, Egypt Today reported that the bodies of seven Egyptians were found off the coast of Saloum city, close to the Libyan border.

In Egypt, corruption is widespread and as the cost of living soars, many people are struggling to eat.

There are roughly 65,000 political prisoners in Egypt who are systematically tortured and denied medical attention in prison.

Many supporters of the late Mohamed Morsi are now targeted in retribution for their political activity.Im