Libyan coastguards have rescued about 100 mostly African migrants off Libya’s west coast on Sunday as they made failed attempts to reach Italy, while about 20 remain missing.
The survivors included six women and two children, while two people in critical condition were transported to a hospital in the Libyan capital. An IOM representative said the migrants include some from Cameroon, Mali, and Sudan.
Twenty persons were still missing, according to the coastguard. Two weeks ago, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported the rescue of more than 90 illegal migrants off the Libyan coast. Last year, over 1200 migrants and asylum-seekers died while crossing the Mediterranean.
Read also: https://newscentral.africa/iom-over-100-migrants-missing-libya-coast/
German charity Sea-Watch said on Saturday that it rescued nearly 150 migrants off the Libyan coast in two operations.
International agencies have continued to condemn the return to Libya of migrants intercepted at sea, due to the poor conditions in detention centres.
Due to a general state of insecurity and disorder in the North African nation following the fall of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, thousands of migrants, mostly Africans attempt reaching Europe by crossing the Mediterranean through Libya.
This year alone, at least 3,700 men, women, and children have been returned to detention camps in Libya.