At least 74 refugees drown after Europe-bound boat capsizes near Libya

Only 47 people rescued with 31 bodies retrieved so far

Life jackets litter the beach near the Libyan port of al-Khums (Hussein Ben Mosa/ IOM 2020 via AP)

At least 74 refugees have drowned after their Europe-bound ship capsized off the coast of Libya on Thursday, the United Nation’s migration agency has said.

Only 47 people were rescued by the Libyan coast guard and fishermen from the boat, which was carrying over 120 people including women and children off the coast of the port of al-Khums, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The IOM said 31 bodies have been retrieve so far and the search for the remaining victims continues.

"The mounting loss of life in the Mediterranean is a manifestation of the inability of States to take decisive action to redeploy much needed, dedicated Search and Rescue capacity in the deadliest sea-crossing in the world," said Federico Soda, IOM Libya chief of mission.

At least 900 have already drowned this year attempting the crossing, according to the agency.

Since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in an uprising in 2011, war-torn Libya has been a major transit point for refugees and migrants hoping to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East.

Desperate families are often packed into rubber boats that stall and founder in the central Mediterranean.

At least 20,000 people have died on that route since 2014, according to the IOM.

On Tuesday, 13 African refugees including three women and one child drowned in a similar shipwreck off the Libyan coast.

The IOM has recorded a recent surge in the number of departures from Libya, with over 780 arrivals in Italy since the beginning of October. More than 11,000 refugees have been intercepted and returned to Libya, where the IOM said they face the risk of human rights violations and detention.

"IOM maintains that Libya is not a safe port for return and reiterates its call on the international community and the European Union to take urgent and concrete action to end the cycle of return and exploitation," it said in a statement. 

IOM and the UN refugee agency UNHCR have both said Libya should not be considered a safe port of return, and that refugees rescued or stopped at sea should not be taken back there.