“MOUNTAINS of corpses” are growing in front of Europe’s walls, refugee rescuers warned today after 45 more people died in a shipwreck off the Libyan Coast.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) announced the deaths in a joint statement on Wednesday night.

“Some 37 survivors — mainly from Senegal, Mali, Chad and Ghana — were rescued by local fishermen and later detained upon disembarkation,” they said.

“They reported to IOM staff that 45 others, including five children, lost their lives when the vessel’s engine exploded off the coast of Zwara.”

The UN agencies warned that without an increase in state-led search-and-rescue assets in the central Mediterranean, the risk of similar disasters will increase.  

The EU’s Operation Sophia naval mission saved the lives of more than 40,000 people between 2015 and 2019, when the mission’s boats were pulled from the sea.

Official European External Action Service documents obtained by the Star earlier this year state that Sophia’s replacement mission, Operation Irini, launched in March, will deploy naval assets only “in the areas most relevant to the implementation of the [UN’s] arms embargo [against Libya], in the eastern part of the area of operation or at least 100km off the Libyan coast, where chances to conduct rescue operations are lower.”

The UNHCR and IOM reiterated the “crucial role” that the rescue vessels of non-government organisations (NGOs) have played since the sharp reduction in European state-led search and rescue.

“The humanitarian imperative of saving lives should not be impeded and legal and logistical restrictions on their work must quickly be lifted,” the agencies urged.

Two NGO rescue ships, Sea Watch 3 and Ocean Viking, remain impounded by authorities on the Italian island of Sicily for alleged safety irregularities, charges the ships’ operators Sea Watch and SOS Mediterranee emphatically reject.

The Italian coastguard also impounded the Aita Mari and Alan Kurdi rescue ships earlier this year on similar grounds.

“The EU bans civil sea rescue and people drown. The mountains of corpses in front of Europe’s walls are growing,” the crew of the seized refugee rescue ship Iuventa posted on Twitter today.  

“Our solidarity goes to the families and friends of the victims. Our anger is directed against the deadly European politics.”