37 Sudanese migrants die at sea en route from Libya to Greece: Relief committee

Lina Altawell

At least 37 Sudanese migrants died during a sea journey from Libya to Greece after fleeing the war in their country, a Sudanese relief committee said Thursday.

The El-Fasher Resistance Coordination, a grassroots committee, said in a statement that the victims included women, children and families who had left Sudan in search of safety.

“Those women and children went out looking for safety and found death at sea,” it said, describing the incident as part of the wider tragedy facing Sudanese civilians displaced by the war.

It said the victims came from several areas across Sudan, including El Fasher, El Geneina, Nyala, Gedaref, East Nile, Babanusa and other towns and cities.

The statement listed the circulated names of 37 victims, including several children, among them a 7-month-old infant and children aged 3, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 16.

El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, was among the hardest-hit communities, with several victims from the city, the group said.

“Death has not left the people of El Fasher a safe path; it follows them inside their city, on displacement routes, on migration paths and even at sea,” the group said.

According to local and international institutions, the RSF seized control of El Fasher on Oct. 26, 2025, amid accusations of massacres against civilians and warnings that the development could deepen Sudan’s geographic fragmentation.

Sudan has been engulfed in conflict since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the military and the RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into the armed forces. The war has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, killing tens of thousands and displacing nearly 13 million people.

Millions of Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes, with many seeking refuge in neighboring countries or attempting dangerous migration routes across the Mediterranean.