Sudanese family missing in Mediterranean after fleeing Darfur war
April 10 2026 (TRIPOLI/KHARTOUM) – The fate of a Sudanese family displaced by the war in El Geneina, West Darfur, remains unknown three weeks after they boarded a rubber dinghy from the Libyan coast bound for Europe.
Mariam, who is six months pregnant, disappeared along with her husband and two young daughters after departing on March 23.
Al-Amin Khater, Mariam’s cousin, told Sudan Tribune that more than 20 days have passed without any trace of the boat or its passengers. Khater, a Sudanese resident in France, said he spoke with Mariam’s husband on the day they left with Libyan smugglers.
“I warned them against going at this time,” Khater said. “February and March are notoriously dangerous months for Mediterranean crossings in rubber boats due to severe weather.”
According to coast guard data from both the African and European shores, no specific reports have been filed regarding a boat seizure or a shipwreck involving this family.
However, the Italian coast guard reported finding 19 bodies off the southern island of Lampedusa on March 25, just two days after the family’s departure. Seven survivors, including two children, were rescued during that operation.
Khater said his inquiries with Italian authorities have yielded no information. He noted that survivors are often returned to Libya, where he has spent weeks searching hospitals and detention centres to no avail.
Another Sudanese national in Europe is reportedly facing the same agonizing wait, having lost contact with five relatives who were on the same vessel.
Months of death
Malik al-Dejawy, head of a program for reducing irregular migration and voluntary return, expects hundreds of deaths and disappearances to be recorded between late March and early April. He noted that smugglers took advantage of the Libyan authorities’ focus on Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr to launch more boats.
“Among these victims are hundreds of Sudanese,” al-Dejawy told Sudan Tribune. “They risk their lives despite annual warnings that February, March, and April are the most dangerous months for these flimsy craft.”
Data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) shows that in January alone, at least 375 migrants were reported dead or missing in “invisible shipwrecks” in the central Mediterranean.
The IOM’s Missing Migrants Project documented more than 1,300 disappearances on this route during 2025. In the first two months of 2026, approximately 484 migrants were reported dead or missing.
“We are used to bodies washing up on the beaches,” al-Dejawy said. “What we are not used to is seeing bodies floating in the deep sea, being towed by fishermen who are doing their best to bring them to shore and save whoever might still be alive.”