The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) renewed its calls for enhanced coordination and safety along migration pathways on Thursday following a shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia that killed 40 migrants.

The organization stated: “IOM reiterates its support for countries along key migration routes through protection-sensitive search and rescue operations, and through efforts to expand safe and regular migration pathways. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.”

The shipwreck near Mahdia, Tunisia, killed nine women, 19 men, and 12 infants and preschoolers. Tunisian naval rescue ships managed to save another 30 West and Central Africans, the UN report stated. According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, there have been nearly 1000 deaths and disappearances recorded in the Central Mediterranean this year. 

Historically, Mediterranean crossings have caused many tragedies for migrants escaping war-ridden countries or domestic violence. Back in 2021, 40 African migrants drowned in a Tunisian shipwreck, before another 2022 Tunisian shipwreck caused smugglers to be sentenced by the Tunisian Tribunal. The IOM later found that 8,938 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2024, while the Human Rights Watch condemned Tunisia’s lack of asylum systems.

Pope Leo XIV criticized the “ever more inhuman” measures used to stop illegal immigration, reiterating his previous criticism that countries had a moral obligation to provide refuge. International Rights Groups criticized the serious abuses of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers by Tunisian security forces, while local rights groups condemned them for severe climatic conditions and expulsions towards the Libyan border. On the other hand, aid workers who supported migrants were on trial in Italy, which in recent years has cracked down on all migrants attempting to enter. Italy has made agreements with Libya and other Mediterranean countries under the claim of protecting its borders, meanwhile empowering them to intercept tens of thousands of people at sea. 

With increasing warnings of deepening crises for people in Congo, Sudan and other sub-Saharan countries, and tighter crackdowns to prevent illegal migration to Europe, rights advocates highlight the looming humanitarian crises as more people travel through unregulated migration routes. Many endure dangerous risks only to face European border protection measures and eventual return to countries such as Libya and Tunisia, which enforce Europe’s migration crackdowns in exchange for continued financial support.