![A rubber boat carrying 54 migrants, including six women and three children, from Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Mali, is located in the Central Mediterranean after departing Libya on September 3, 2025. [Joan Galvez - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AA-20250904-39014315-39014308-NGOS_RESCUE_54_MIGRANTS_IN_CENTRAL_MEDITERRANEAN_AFTER_DEPARTURE_FROM_LIBYA-1.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that at least 50 people had died after a vessel carrying 75 Sudanese refugees caught fire off Libya’s coast on Sunday, Reuters reported.
The IOM said it had provided medical support to 24 survivors.
According to the IOM, 456 people have died off the coast of Libya since the start of this year while attempting the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean.
The agency described the central Mediterranean as “the world’s most dangerous migration route”, citing increasingly ruthless trafficking practices, limited rescue capacity, and mounting restrictions on humanitarian operations as key factors driving the high death toll.
Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the Mediterranean since the fall in 2011 of former president, Muammar Gaddafi, during a NATO-backed uprising.
As of February 2025, around 867,055 migrants from 44 nationalities were residing in Libya, according to IOM data.
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