LIBYA - Fears Grow Over Fate of Migrants Missing At Sea - More than two hundred migrants are still missing from a boat that capsized at sea 30 miles off the Libyan coast near the Buri oil platform.
The boat was believed to be carrying 257 people. Libyan coastguard have retrieved 20 bodies and rescued 23 people. Among them were women and children.
Another boat believed to be carrying 356 people was rescued by Libyan authorities and towed back to safety.
The rescue operations, now ended, began yesterday when one of the boats sent an SOS which was detected by the Italian coast guard and then conveyed to Libyan officials.
However, radio contact has been lost with another two boats, though it is unclear whether these boats were fishing boats or boats carrying irregular migrants en route to Europe.
Smugglers often use unseaworthy and over-crowded boats to carry the migrants who have had to pay large sums of money for their journey. Weather conditions were reported not to have been good yesterday with strong winds.
IOM has offered its assistance to the Libyan government in finding durable assistance to those who were rescued.
Libya is a major transit country for migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea from North Africa. Last year, nearly 32,000 arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Although some migrants decide not to make the sea crossing to Europe, deterred by the perils including the ruthlessness of smuggling networks, many unfortunately do.
An IOM information and assistance centre in Libya provides critical humanitarian assistance to irregular migrants stranded in Libya without papers and money. In addition to providing shelter for 40 migrants, it also offers counselling services. For those who have decided to return home but who have no means to do so, IOM provides assisted voluntary return. Since 2007, IOM has helped 3,500 migrants to return home voluntarily where they are provided reintegration assistance to help them regain a livelihood.
For further information, please contact Laurence Hart, IOM Tripoli, Tel: +218 21 477 78 38, Email: lhart@iom.int or Jean Philippe Chauzy, IOM Geneva, Tel: + 41 79 285 4366, Email: pchauzy@iom.int or Jemini Pandya, IOM Geneva, Tel: + 41 79 217 3374, email: jpandya@iom.int
ANGOLA - Rapid Response to Flooding in Southern and Central Angola - IOM will provide shelter and non-food items to 10,000 people worst-affected by floods which have left 220,000 Angolans displaced and at least 22 dead in several provinces in the centre and south of the country.
The assistance, funded through a US$445,000 grant from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), is aimed at providing displaced people with temporary protection from the remainder of the rainy season and basic support in the rehabilitation of damaged housing in Cunene, Moxico and Kuando Kubango areas where damage to homes has been the most extensive.
"With flood and river levels the highest since 1963 and heavy rains still expected in the coming weeks, it is imperative that shelter assistance reaches people as quickly as possible," says Katharina Schnöring, IOM's Chief of Mission in Angola.
Working in concert with partner agencies including from the UN, civil society and the Red Cross, IOM will complement the assistance provided to flood victims in the initial stages of the emergency. The Organization will also prioritise mechanisms to strengthen coordination to address protection issues and to help guarantee access to life-saving supplies.
Meanwhile, an assessment mission comprising staff from IOM, USAID, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Civil Protection, UNICEF and the Red Cross to Cunene and Kuando Kubango provinces in recent days found that the floods have also had a severe impact on agricultural production. In Cunene alone, 228,000 hectares of agricultural land was affected.
For further information please contact, Katharina Schnöring, IOM Angola, Email: kschnoring@iom.int
