The Libyan Coast Guard, a division of the Libyan Navy, rescued 172 illegal migrants off the western coast of Libya. This followed two serial operations carried out by the Navy as reported yesterday.
The rescued migrants were rescued following a distress call received by the Coast Guard patrol. The migrants were on a dangerous three day voyage to continental Europe. They were ferried back to the Naval Base at Tripoli and handed over to the anti-illegal immigration department for processing.
The department is responsible for carrying out all procedures relating to the safe deportation of illegal migrants to their countries of origin.
The North African country has become a preferred port of departure for illegal migrants wanting to access European shores through the Mediterranean sea.
This development comes as 47 migrants are feared dead off the coast of Mauritania. This follows the discovery of a boat found drifting with 7 survivors on board. The United Nations migration agency, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), stated that the boat likely was heading for the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries from Western Sahara on a 7 day journey when it suffered an engine failure.
The boat was said to have been drifting for two weeks before it was spotted by the Mauritanian coast guards on the 16th of August, 2021. Fifty-four people including two children below three years of age and a teenage girl were onboard the boat at the start of the trip.
The survivors include six men and one woman who are been taken care by the Red Cross. The dead were reported to have been thrown overboard by the survivors.
Nearly 400 have been reported dead along this illegal migration route since the start of the year
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