200 dead after boat sinks in Libyan waters

On Sunday evening, a boat carrying approximately 250 migrants from Africa sank near the city of Tajoura, east of Libyan capital of Tripoli.

The Libyan coastguards could only rescue 36 of the passengers and the rest are feared to be dead, according to the Libyan authorities. Ayub Qassem, a Libyan navy spokesman said, "There are so many dead bodies floating in the sea," The Guardian reported.

Qassem also stated that Libyan coastguards didn't have the proper equipment and enough resources to deal with the scale of the disaster, and search for survivors.

Libya, a North-African nation, is a major transfer point from Africa to Europe, due to the country's strategic position between the two continents. Migrants from Africa usually board a small wooden boat to reach Europe, often headed for Italy, where they hope to have better opportunities and better lives than they had in their home countries.

The trip is potentially dangerous and sometimes fatal. Just a couple of weeks ago another boat sunk just a mile off the Libyan coast. The boat was heading to Italy. 100 people were killed in the accident.

Despite the fact that there is the risk of death, the number of migrants trying to go across the Mediterranean has risen dramatically. According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, since the beginning of 2014, more than 100,000 migrants trying to make the trip from Africa and the Middle East have reached Italy. 2,000 have died on the way, The Guardian  reported.

The situation has worsened since 2011. During an uprising, Muammar Gaddafi who was the leader of Libya for more than four decades, was overthrown. The situation quickly escalated into political chaos that the country has been trying to deal with ever since.

The lack of security coupled with political instability in Libya has created opportunities for human traffickers by making it easier for them to operate.