Many Syrian refugees die en route to Europe

Dozens of Syrian refugees, who try to travel from North Africa to Europe by rickety and overcrowded boats in the hope of having a better life, die on route, Press TV reports.

Many Syrian refugees, including women and children, drown at sea when attempting to make their way from Libya to Italy and the Tunisian authorities recover their bodies.

The trend has worried analysts who have denounced the negative impact of the foreign-backed militancy in Syria on the lives of its desperate citizens.

“This is a painful subject because our Syrian brothers are sinking and dying amid international silence and complicity. This conflict will claim more lives,” said Mohamed Nasser Sadiki, an anthropologist at the University of Tunis.

Meanwhile, human rights activists have said that the continuous flow of Syrian refugees has led to human trafficking in North Africa.

“The death boats are packed with hundreds of refugees. They have no chance of reaching European mainland. Human traffickers in Libya make money out of misery and death,” rights activist Omar Tiss said.

Late in August, the Tunisian Coast Guard recovered over 40 bodies of migrants, mostly Syrians, who drowned trying to sail to Europe.

Amid the breakdown in security in neighboring Libya, the country has turned into a major jumping off place for boats taking Syrian and African refugees to Europe.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011.

According to estimates by the United Nations, over 190,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the turmoil fueled by the Western-backed militants in the Arab country.