MSF team approach a dinghy to rescue migrants in Libyan coast. (Photo/MSF/X).

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it recovered 11 bodies of migrants who likely drowned off the Libyan coast and rescued over 160 survivors as it blamed “bloody European policies” on migration.

MSF said its rescue ship recovered the bodies following a nine-hour search operation after being alerted by German humanitarian organization Sea-Watch, which also rescues migrants at sea.

The medical aid group said it is not clear where the 11 died in a previous shipwreck, as it blames what it called “bloody European policies on migration and non-assistance” for the migrants.

In a post on X, MSF said it “witnessed yet again the result of the devastating and bloody European policies on migration and non-assistance for people taking the Mediterranean.”

The aid group said that following the recovery of the 11 bodies, it resumed navigation towards the troubled waters and rescued 165 survivors on board a vessel it did not identify.

“After the 11 bodies were….. transferred to a Guardiacostiera vessel near the Lampedusa island, after instructions from the Italian authorities, Geo-Barents resumed navigation towards the distant port of Genova to disembark the 165 survivors onboard,” it said.

The organization called for an end to the “catastrophe” and urged European nations to find safe legal pass ways for the migrants.

MSF added that it fears more people will likely continue to take the perilous routes in the hope of reaching Europe.

On June 1, 2024, the aid group rescued 84 people from several African countries, who it said were “in distress” in the Mediterranean Sea during two international rescue operations.

Thousands of African migrants try to reach Europe using Libya as a departing point, as they brave a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to escape war and poverty.

The central Mediterranean route remains the world’s most dangerous crossing. In 2023, more than 3,000 people went missing on this route, according to the International Organization for Migration.