Libyan authorities announced in a statement that “coast guard forces recovered 22 drowned bodies, including three children, who died as a result of an unsuccessful illegal immigration attempt” that left the Libyan coast towards Italy through the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. that “he was able to rescue 61 migrants, most of them from countries south of the Sahara, where they are receiving the necessary assistance in coordination with the UN International Organization for Migration.”

In this regard, the government of Mali said in a statement that “22 migrants from among its nationals have died off the coast of Libya”, stressing that “the victims were among a group of 83 migrants stranded aboard a ship in danger of sinking off the coast of Libya” .

The incident came shortly after the International Organization for Migration announced that during the first quarter of this year it was tracking a “significant increase” in the flow of illegal immigrants through Niger and Mali into North Africa; With the aim of illegally going to Europe, considering these figures are higher than recorded in previous years.