More than 900 refugees from Africa were rescued off the Libya coast while on their way to Europe in the Mediterranean on inflatable boats, AFP reported on Monday, quoting the Libyan Navy. The Coast Guard also recovered 10 bodies from the boats.
A total of 948 migrants were rescued in three separate operations that took place on Saturday. “The coastguards picked up illegal migrants in different groups,” Libyan navy spokesperson Ayoub Qassem told Reuters. “The first group is 97 [people] on one inflatable boat and the second group is 361 refugees on two inflatable boats. The second group was taken to Khums town.”
Qassem added that there were 110 women and 70 children in both groups. A third group that arrived at Libyan Capital Tripoli’s Abu Sittah naval base had 490 refugees picked up off Qarabulli town.
Around 2,000 refugees have been brought back to Libya since last week, Reuters reported. The western coast of Libya is the departure point for many refugees fleeing wars and poverty and trying to enter Europe.
The rescue came a day after Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Libyan refugees should be picked up by the Libyan Coast Guard rather than European non-governmental organisations. “Another 1,000 migrants in rubber boats? It is appropriate that the Libyan authorities intervene, without having NGO boats interrupt and bother them,” Salvini said on Twitter. Italian ports will remain closed to NGO vessels that rescue asylum seekers, he said.
Earlier on Monday, the Italian minister visited Tripoli for talks about the refugee crisis with his Libyan counterpart.
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