Libyan coast guard intercepts 200 Europe-bound migrants
Posted October 31, 2019 5:42 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CAIRO — Libya’s coast guard says it intercepted 200 Europe-bound migrants, including seven women and three children, off the country’s Mediterranean coast.
The Libyan navy has issued a statement on Thursday saying that it rescued two wooden boats carrying mainly African and Arab migrants the previous day. The statement adds that they received humanitarian aid before being sent to a detention centre in the capital, Tripoli.
Libya has emerged as a major transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe. In recent years, the European Union has partnered with the coast guard and other Libyan forces to try to stop the dangerous sea crossings.
Rights groups, however, have criticized those efforts, saying they’ve left migrants at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centres rife with abuses.
Associated Press, The Associated Press
