12 Egyptians missing after boat carrying undocumented migrants capsizes off Libyan coast

A boat carrying 13 passengers capsized at sea on Monday evening nearly 60 kilometers from Tobruk, a city on Libya’s eastern Mediterranean coast near the border with Egypt, according to data from the the International Organization for Migration which Mada Masr reviewed on Wednesday.

Egypt tightened the regulatory environment for undocumented migration via the Egyptian coast in 2016 following the tragic shipwreck near the port city of Rashid, forcing thousands of Egyptian nationals to depart from Libya to Europe instead. Only one of the boat passengers survived, according to IOM, which said that it is still investigating the incident and that the identities of the 12 people missing are unknown.

Search and rescue operations are also ongoing under Major Tariq bin-Zayed, according to a statement published on Tuesday by Al-Abireen Foundation for Migrant Aid and Humanitarian Services, which tracks informal migration from Libya.

All of those on board the ship which capsized on Monday evening were Egyptian nationals, according to the foundation.

Egypt has introduced tougher penalties for irregular immigration, people smuggling and human trafficking in the country since 2016, such as a legislation adopted in 2022 centered on staunch punishment of migrant smuggling networks.

Earlier this year, the country also signed a deal with the European Union granting Egypt billions in a comprehensive package, with at least US$200 million earmarked for migration management.

Egyptians continue to seek passage to Europe via other parts of the North African coastline, however, including Morocco and Libya, where Egyptians hopeful of reaching Europe are frequently detained. 

Hundreds of foreign nationals were found to have been detained in migrant detention centers in Libya last month.

Egyptian nationals were the fifth most frequent recorded reaching Europe through informal migration in 2024, with nearly 8,250 arriving according to the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix. 13,639 Egyptians crossed to Europe in 2023. 

Those who eventually do reach Europe via undocumented migration often face arrest upon arrival.

As many as 84 percent of people who perish on sea routes to Europe after embarking on trips from the Middle East remain unidentified, according to IOM. 

Between 2014 and 2024, more than 20,000 migrants have died or disappeared along the central Mediterranean route, making it the deadliest route globally for informal migration, according to IOM’s 2024 World Migration Report. The central Mediterranean route encompassing routes from the countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to Italy and Malta is one of the deadliest worldwide for refugees and migrants, according to the UNHCR, which reported that a minimum of 1,750 people died on the journey across the Mediterranean during 2018 and 2019, with the rate representing at least 72 deaths per month on this route.