At least 50 migrants are feared dead or missing after a boat carrying about 60 people capsized off the eastern coast of Libya while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, authorities have said.

The vessel overturned on Tuesday near Bardaa Island, off the coastal city of Tobruk, according to the Coast Guard in eastern Libya.

Officials said 10 passengers, including some women and children, survived by swimming to Bardaa Island. Search and rescue operations were still ongoing as authorities continued efforts to locate the remaining passengers.

The latest disaster is another in a series of deadly shipwrecks involving migrants departing from Libya, a major transit hub for people seeking to reach Europe in search of safety and better economic opportunities.

Just last month, another migrant boat sank off eastern Libya, leaving 51 people dead or missing.

Since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi, Libya has remained politically unstable, making it a key departure point for migrants fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty across Africa and the Middle East.

Human traffickers frequently load migrants onto overcrowded and unseaworthy boats for the dangerous Mediterranean crossing, a route that has claimed thousands of lives over the years and remains one of the world’s deadliest migration corridors.

Sea-Watch International has announced that its rescue vessel, Sea-Watch 5, has returned to operations in the central Mediterranean after what it described as an attack by Libyan militias in May, saying it has already rescued 52 people in two separate operations.

In a post published on its verified X account, @seawatch_intl, the humanitarian organisation said 40 people were rescued on the first day of operations, followed by another 12 the next day. It added that one of the survivors, a pregnant woman, requires urgent medical care.

Sea-Watch also claimed that an average of eight people die every day while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea, renewing its criticism of European migration policies and rescue coordination.

The organisation accused the Italian government of assigning its rescue vessel to the northern port of Marina di Carrara, which it said is more than four days away from the rescue zone. According to Sea-Watch, the practice keeps humanitarian rescue ships away from areas where migrants are most at risk.

“To ensure that as few rescue ships as possible are in the rescue area, Italy sends us to the northern port Marina di Carrara, 4+ days away,” the group wrote, describing the decision as “cruel and irresponsible.”

Sea-Watch argued that the lengthy journey delays the disembarkation of rescued migrants and reduces the number of rescue vessels available to respond to emergencies at sea.

The organisation also directly criticised Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over the country’s migration policies, questioning the government’s approach to search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean.

Italian authorities have previously defended the assignment of distant ports to humanitarian vessels, saying the measure is part of efforts to manage migrant arrivals and coordinate disembarkation procedures.

Sea-Watch International has accused the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, of obstructing rescue operations in the Mediterranean and called for the agency to be replaced with what it described as a “real European rescue programme.”

In a post published on its verified X account, @seawatch_intl, the humanitarian organisation alleged that Frontex deliberately hindered efforts to rescue migrants during an incident on June 25.

According to Sea-Watch, its rescue vessel Aurora responded to a mayday relay after receiving reports of people in distress at sea. The organisation claimed that a Frontex surveillance aircraft repeatedly ignored the vessel despite being aware that assistance was on the way.

Sea-Watch further alleged that after Frontex relayed the distress call, its reconnaissance aircraft, Seabird, arrived at the scene and intercepted radio communications indicating that the Frontex crew knew both Aurora and the Italian Coast Guard were responding.

The organisation claimed that despite this knowledge, the Frontex aircraft continued transmitting distress calls, which repeatedly updated the location of the migrant boat. Sea-Watch alleged that because Libyan forces were already operating nearby, the continued location updates appeared intended to facilitate an interception and the return of the migrants to Libya.

“It looked like an attempt to enable the interception of people and force them back to Libya,” the organisation said in the statement.

Sea-Watch criticised Frontex’s role in European migration management, arguing that the agency’s mandate is focused on border enforcement rather than saving lives.

“We need to be clear: Frontex’s mandate is not rescue. Its role is to violently close off EU borders, and people on the move are paying the price,” the organisation said.

Sea-Watch concluded by urging the European Union to replace Frontex with what it described as a genuine European search-and-rescue programme dedicated to protecting lives in the Mediterranean.

Frontex had not publicly responded to the allegations at the time of reporting.