Disappearance of an immigrant boat containing 500 immigrants without any trace

Libya. The country is the launching point for many of the smugglers’ unseaworthy boats that aim to bring migrants to Italy’s shores.

The vessel “Life Support found no wreckage of any shipwreck, and the 500 persons didn't disembark in Italy,'' the nongovernmental organization Emergency said in a written statement from Milan. ”It's hard to believe that no coastal authority knows where those 500 persons are."

NGO, Alarm Phone, which receives calls from migrant boats in distress, said a boat filled with 500 migrants needed help.

Emergency said that Life Support sailed for 32 hours to reach the area where the distressed ship was believed to be and searched for 24 hours on Thursday in international waters that are part of Malta's search-and-rescue area. But the group said on Thursday evening that worsening weather was forcing it to end the search.

Emergency raised the possibility that the migrants were brought back to Libya, the launching point for many of the smugglers’ unseaworthy boats that aim to bring migrants to Italy’s shores. The group's statement said that Libyan authorities so far were denying it brought the passengers back to Libya, where many migrants spend months in inhumane conditions in detention camps, often enduring beatings or rape, until they or families back in their homelands can pay smugglers for the sea journey toward Italy.

.sarah H

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