On Tuesday, 61 migrants were picked up by the Libyan coast guard after nine days of wandering off the Libyan coast and towed back to Libya. At least 22 other migrants on the boat had already died. According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) spokesperson Safa Msehli, most of the fatalities died of thirst or drowned, and some survivors were also recovered in a very serious state of health and taken to hospitals. A cynical game, because after their release they face the same fate as the rest of the survivors. They are interned in the notorious detention centres in Libya where torture, slave labour and the most severe abuses are the order of the day.

According to the IOM, 805 deaths have been registered on the central Mediterranean route this year. The real number is probably much higher.