400 illegal migrants intercepted at sea by the Libyan coast guard

28 Mai 2020

Tripoli, Libya,May 28 (Infosplusgabon) - Nearly 400 illegal migrants were intercepted off Libya by Libyan coast guards who brought them ashore, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced, illustrating the continuing phenomenon of illegal immigration as the summer season approaches.

"They have all been detained in Zaouia, west of Tripoli. This is particularly worrying as state and NGO-led search and rescue capabilities are sharply reduced," IOM spokesperson in Geneva, Safa Msehli, said on Tuesday.

She added that "as more and more migrants embark on the most dangerous sea crossing trying to flee Libya, and in the absence of search and rescue vessels, the risk of invisible wrecks increases," adding that this is the story of 91 lives lost without a trace ".

For his part, the head of the IOM Mission in Libya, Federico Soda, said that "at least 90 people fleeing Libya were rescued by a commercial ship and returned last night".

They spent the night on the ship and are waiting to disembark, he said.

Soda said that "a safe alternative to landing in Libya is necessary to prevent the return of people to the conflict and to detention".

IOM added, on the other hand, that in the past week alone, at least 800 people have left Libya in an attempt to cross to Europe, reporting that nearly 400 have been returned to Libya and detained.

At least 200 of them ended up in unofficial centers and are also missing, said IOM.

Libya, a country both of transit and destination for migrants, has been confronted in recent years by incessant flows of migrants exploited by networks of traffickers who take advantage of the insecurity in the country to organize trips to Europe via the Mediterranean.

This situation was aggravated by the Tripoli war which started in April 2019 following the attack launched by Haftar's forces to take control of Tripoli and the western region.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/AOD/GABON2020

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