Hundreds of Europe-Bound Migrants Stopped at Sea, Returned to Libya

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 UN 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.

It said most of the migrants were taken to detention centres in Libya, where there are “serious concerns over their safety.”

Some migrants managed to escape at the disembarkation point, as the boats were brought back to shore, the IOM said.

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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 had passed the “grim milestone” of 20,000 deaths since 2014.

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