<\/p>\n
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the incidents highlighted the dangers facing migrants travelling across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea in unseaworthy vessels. \u201cThese were mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, people who left home hoping for a better life,\u201d IOM Director-General Amy Pope said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSmugglers and traffickers charged them for a dangerous journey on boats that were not fit for the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At least 34 people died on Friday after a boat carrying migrants capsized near Loumpoul on Senegal\u2019s northwestern coast, between Dakar and Saint-Louis.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One person survived, while authorities continued searching for an unknown number of missing passengers. The death toll remained provisional.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At least 22 people died in two separate incidents south of Crete after boats that had departed from eastern Libya encountered difficulties at sea.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Greek authorities rescued 28 Sudanese migrants and recovered eight bodies during the first incident. Several passengers were reported missing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A cargo ship spotted another vessel in distress during the second incident. Eighteen survivors were rescued and 14 bodies recovered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IOM said increasing arrivals along the eastern Libya-Crete route, combined with gaps in search-and-rescue capacity, were placing more lives at risk.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The agency had recorded at least 454 deaths and disappearances along the Western African Atlantic Route by October 26.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The figure represented a minimum estimate because many boats disappeared without survivors or any trace of the vessels.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Departures had increasingly shifted towards The Gambia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, lengthening journeys and exposing migrants to greater risks at sea, the agency said. \u201cThese networks profit from desperation, and every day they operate, more lives are put at risk,\u201d Pope said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The IOM called for greater cooperation among countries of origin, transit and destination to coordinate search-and-rescue operations, support survivors and assist families searching for missing relatives.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The agency also called for stronger action against smuggling networks and expanded safe and regular migration pathways. \u201cCountries must go after them together and give people safe, legal ways to move,\u201d Pope said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":40612,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-50541","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"At least 56 migrants died in separate shipwrecks off Senegal and Greece over the weekend, while an unknown number remain missing, the United Nations migration agency says.","published_date":"","news_description":"At least 56 migrants died in separate shipwrecks off Senegal and Greece over the weekend, while an unknown number remain missing, the United Nations migration agency says.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50543,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50541\/revisions\/50543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=50541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}