LIBYA - Migrant Vessel Capsizes
A boat carrying dozens of migrants trying to reach Europe capsized off the coast of Libya, leaving more than 60 people dead, including women and children, the U.N. migration agency said.
“The central Mediterranean continues to be one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes,” the agency wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, even though the North African nation has plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
According to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration missing migrants project, at least 940 migrants were reported dead and 1,248 missing off Libya between Jan. 1 and Nov. 18.
The project, which tracks migration movements, said about 14,900 migrants, including over 1,000 women and more than 530 children, were intercepted and returned to Libya this year.
In 2022, the project reported 529 dead and 848 missing off Libya. Over 24,600 were intercepted and returned to Libya.
Human traffickers in recent years have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling in migrants across the country’s lengthy borders, which it shares with six nations. The migrants are crowded onto ill-equipped vessels, including rubber boats, and set off on risky sea voyages.
-www.npr.org, 17 December 2023
Arno's Commentary
Immigration, whether legal or illegal, is rampant these days, mostly due to conflicts in the migrant’s country of origin. Some, as this article indicates, are promised a better life by human traffickers. In most cases, they are illegal on arrival in Europe. After being interviewed by authorities, it is determined whether they qualify as genuine asylum seekers in danger of their lives, or whether they will be returned. The article indicates that in 2022, 529 deaths were reported, 848 missing, and over 24,600 were returned to Libya.
At present, the United Nations reports that there are more than 100 million refugees globally. Thus, a decrease in the number of refugees is most unlikely.
What does the Bible say about foreigners? There are a number of Scriptures in the Old Testament as well as in the New, where we are instructed not to mistreat foreigners. God reminds Israel, “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21). And we read the admonition in Hebrews 13:2: “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
