More than 570 Europe-bound migrants held by Libya force

cairo — Libya’s coast guard intercepted three groups totaling more than 570 Europe-bound migrants, including at least 66 women and 19 children, in the Mediterranean Sea, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

One group of 292 migrants, including 42 women and 10 children, embarked on the perilous trip for Europe on three rubber boats but the coast guard stopped them off the coast of the western town of Zawiya, coast guard spokesman Ayoub Gassim said in a statement.

Another group of 101 migrants on a rubber boat were also rescued off the capital, Tripoli, the coast guard said in a separate statement.

The coast guard said it had also rescued 181 others, including 24 women and nine children, in a separate incident off Tripoli. The migrants were on two rubber boats, Gassim said.

The migrants hailed from both African and Middle Eastern countries, he said.

The three groups were intercepted on Monday. All of them were given humanitarian and medical aid and were handed over to anti-migration authorities in the town of Tajoura and Tripoli, Gassim said.

The interceptions came a day after the UN refugee agency said it is looking into possible violations of international law involving the transport to Libya of 108 migrants rescued at sea by an Italian-flagged mercantile ship.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Italy said on Twitter that Libya is not a secure port, making such a transfer a violation of international law.

An Italian lawmaker aboard a rescue ship operated by a non-governmental organisation, Nicola Frantoianni, said on Facebook that they had proof that the ship, Asso Ventotto, was taking the migrants to Libya, calling it “a very serious precedent” if ordered by the Italian coast guard.

Responding to the suspicions, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Facebook on Tuesday that the Italian coast guard was not involved in the rescue, which was coordinated by the Libyan coast guard. —