400 illegal migrants intercepted off Libya coast
CAIRO (AP)
— Libya’s coast guard intercepted over 400 Europe-bound migrants off
the country’s Mediterranean coast and returned them to the capital of
Tripoli over the past 24 hours, the U.N. migration agency said Sunday.
The International
Organization for Migration tweeted that 301 migrants on three boats were
intercepted on Saturday and brought back to Tripoli. Another 105
migrants on two boats were intercepted on Sunday.
Some migrants managed to escape at the disembarkation point, as the boats were brought back to shore, the IOM said.
“It is
unacceptable for this to continue despite repeated calls to put an end
to the return of vulnerable people to detention and abuse,” said Safa
Msehli, a spokeswoman for the IOM.
Libya, which
descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed
longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, has emerged as a major transit point
for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe.
Most migrants make
the perilous journey in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats. The IOM
said earlier this month that its estimated death toll among migrants who
tried to cross the Mediterranean past the “grim milestone” of 20,000
deaths since 2014.
In recent years, the European Union has partnered with the coast guard and other Libyan forces to stop the flow of migrants.
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