Migrants staying on ship in Libya

Dozens of migrants have barricaded themselves in a container ship in the Libyan port city of Misrata for the past five days after being picked up at sea, and refuse to disembark, saying Libya is too dangerous for them.

Loaded with cars, the ship Nivin was already bound for Misrata when it picked up 93 migrants in a foundering raft in the Mediterranean Sea late Friday and continued toward its destination. They have been in the Misrata port ever since, with the captain and crew taking refuge on the upper decks.

By late Wednesday, at least 77 remained on board after more than a dozen of the migrants agreed to leave with the Libyan coast guard for a nearby detention center — including a woman and her infant. The others refused, saying Libya was deadly for migrants and they wanted to go to Europe.

One of the migrants, a man from South Sudan, vowed Wednesday to reach Europe or die trying. He said six commercial ships passed his group before the Nivin finally stopped.

With just one rescue ship patrolling the Mediterranean, and European ports refusing to take in rescued migrants, commercial ships have become increasingly leery of picking up people in the sea. Repeatedly in recent months, they have found themselves caught in the middle between governments hostile to new migrants and an obligation under international maritime law to save lives.