At least 30 Venezuelan migrants are missing after the speedboat they were traveling in sank on its way to Curacao, an opposition lawmaker said on Tuesday.

The vessel left from a village in the northwest on Friday with 30 to 35 people on board, deputy Luis Stefanelli told AFP, quoting family members.

“No one has been in touch with their families, which makes us fear the worst,” said Stefanelli.

Authorities have not commented on the report.

The body of a man wearing a life jacket was found near Bullenbaai bay in Curacao, according to a coast guard statement published by media on the Caribbean island.

However, it was not clear if he had been aboard the speedboat that left clandestinely from the Venezuelan village of Aguide in Falcon state.

It's the third such boat carrying Venezuelan migrants to capsize in the last month, with a total of 80 people now missing.

The previous two boats were heading for Trinidad and Tobago.

Another opposition lawmaker, Robert Alcala said on May 19 that 29 people had gone missing when their boat sank in open water on its journey to Trinidad and Tobago from northwestern Venezuela.

It was Alcala as well who reported on April 25 that a boat carrying 33 migrants taking the same route disappeared, although nine people were rescued that time.

“These are desperate people who sell all their belongings and leave with nothing,” Stefanelli told AFP.

He said that according to the families, the migrants had paid $400 each for the crossing -- in a country where the minimum wage is now around $6.50 a month because of hyperinflation.

Venezuela is suffering from an economic crisis and has been in recession for five years, with its people suffering from shortages of basic necessities such as food and medicines.

The United Nations says a quarter of its 30 million population are in need of humanitarian aid.

Last week, the UN said more than 3.3 million people have fled the country in the last three and a half years.

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, has accused the UN of “inflating figures.” </s> At least 80 Venezuelans have lost their lives or went missing after three boats capsized in the Caribbean Sea during the months of April and May, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a press release on Tuesday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th June, 2019) At least 80 Venezuelans have lost their lives or went missing after three boats capsized in the Caribbean Sea during the months of April and May , the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a press release on Tuesday.

"More than 80 Venezuelans have died or disappeared in the Caribbean Sea the past two months in three shipwrecks reported by NTN24 and other media outlets and confirmed by the Venezuelan authorities," the release said.

The IOM said in the release that an estimated 51 to 67 Venezuelans disappeared on April 23 and May 16 after two boats heading toward Trinidad and Tobago capsized.

In addition, at least 21 Venezuelans went missing after a third boat heading to Curacao disappeared on June 8, the IOM added.

The IOM explained that relatives of the missing testified the trips had been organized by smugglers who utilize boats that surpass their transport capacity and are likely to capsize.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said earlier in the month that some four million Venezuelans have left the country.

Of the nearly four million citizens who have left Venezuela as a result of the political and economic crisis in the country, some 110,000 of them reside in the Caribbean region, according to the IOM. </s> Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Many Venezuelans have fled the crisis-hit country to the island of Curaçao (file photo)

Thirty-two Venezuelan migrants are missing after the boat they were travelling on sank on its way to the island of Curaçao, a politician said.

The group left a village in the north-western Falcón state on a speedboat on Friday. Relatives said they had not heard from the group since.

It was the third Venezuelan migrant boat to capsize in recent weeks.

Some four million people have fled Venezuela since 2015, according to the United Nations.

A severe years-long economic crisis has resulted in high unemployment and shortages of food and medicine, and hundreds of thousands of people are said to be in need of humanitarian aid in the oil-rich country.

"No-one has been in touch with their families, which makes us fear the worst," said opposition politician Luis Stefanelli, who accused the government of "criminal negligence" for not deploying teams to search for the missing.

Venezuelan authorities have not yet commented.

The Dutch island of Curaçao is about 40 miles (64km) off the Venezuelan coast. Mr Stefanelli said each person had paid $400 (£313) for the crossing in a country where the monthly minimum wage is around $6.70.

Two other boats carrying migrants sank on separate journeys to Trinidad and Tobago in April and May, leaving more than 50 missing in total.

Last week, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the exodus from the country meant that Venezuelans were now "one of the single largest population groups displaced from their country".

Latin American countries host the vast majority of Venezuelan migrants and refugees. Colombia has the most at 1.3 million, followed by Peru with 768,000, according to UN figures.

But countries in Central America and the Caribbean also host significant numbers of Venezuelans.

The government of President Nicolás Maduro says the shortages are a result of a US-led "economic war". The opposition argues that they are the result of mismanagement and corruption by socialist governments.

The crisis deepened in January after Juan Guaidó, the head of the National Assembly, declared himself interim president, arguing that Mr Maduro's re-election last year had been "illegitimate".

He has since been recognised by more than 50 countries, including the US and most of Latin America. But Mr Maduro retains the loyalty of most of the military and important allies such as China and Russia.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What are the real reasons behind Venezuela’s blackouts?

In April, Mr Guaidó led a failed attempt to spark a military rebellion against Mr Maduro, who described the effort as part of a US-orchestrated coup. Since then, close allies of Mr Guaidó have been arrested. While his parliamentary immunity has been lifted, he has so far not been jailed. </s> MADRID -- A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defence ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defence ministry press officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain. </s> MADRID — A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defence ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defence ministry media officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The UN says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain. </s> MADRID — A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defense ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defense ministry press officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

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At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> Bogota, June 26 At least three persons died and 30 went missing after a tourist boat carrying 150 passengers capsized in Colombia, the media reported. "Three dead and 30 missing after boat sinks," the head of the Colombian police said about the accident which happened in the Penol-Guatape Reservoir in Colombia's northwest department of Antioquia, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

Start the conversation, or Read more at India.com. </s> A boat carrying migrants toward Europe sank off the coast of Tunisia and at least 46 people drowned, though dozens more could be missing, the North African nation's defense ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said 68 people were rescued overnight after the boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea near Kerkennah island, off Tunisia's eastern coast. Authorities said the vessel was believed to have been carrying about 180 passengers.

Rachid Bouhoula, the defense ministry press officer, said a rescue and recovery operation continued in the waters around the island.

The ministry said earlier that those rescued included 61 Tunisians and seven people from other countries. In recent months, Tunisia increasingly has become a point of departure for Europe-bound migrants fleeing poverty and conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

9 other migrants drown off of Turkey's coast

Earlier Sunday, Turkish officials reported that nine migrants, including six children, drowned when a boat capsized in the eastern Mediterranean near the town of Demre in the southern province of Antalya. Turkey's coast guard rescued four others and a fifth migrant was saved by a passing fishing vessel. The migrants' nationalities have not been identified.

At the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, more than 857,000 people reached Greece from Turkey. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the European Union has dramatically reduced the numbers of migrants coming into Greece.

Spain's maritime rescue service announced Sunday that it had rescued a total of 240 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa over the weekend, and one person had apparently drowned. It said the migrants were in 11 small boats attempting the perilous crossing from Africa to Spain.

The U.N. says at least 660 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. Through the first four months of 2018, a total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 of them arriving in Spain. </s> More than 80 people missing after boat sinks off Tunisian coast

More than 80 people missing after boat sinks off Tunisian coast

The boat capsized off the Tunisian coast. File pic

A boat carrying 86 migrants has sank in the Mediterranean - and 82 people have been reported missing.

Fishermen came across the sinking boat, nine miles from the town of Zarzis off the coast of Tunisia, late on Wednesday.

They were able to pull four men from the vessel but there was no trace of the other passengers, according to Lorena Lando, head of the International Organisation for Migration in Tunisia.

One of those rescued, a man from the Ivory Coast, died overnight in hospital.

Those on board are thought to have been migrants who had departed from the Libyan city of Zuwara.

In May, at least 65 migrants drowned after their boat capsized while heading from Libya to Europe.

African migrants often depart from the west coast of Libya and head to Europe in search of a better life.

But many rely on human traffickers, and end up travelling in unsafe boats.

Aid workers have warned that the recent fighting in Libya could prompt more Libyans to flee their country.

However, an operation run by the Italians and the Libyan coast guard has seen a recent drop in the number of people sailing for Europe.
A speedboat carrying migrants reportedly sinks off the coast of Venezuela en route to Curaçao, making it the third migrant boat leaving Venezuela to sink in as many months, with over 50 people missing.