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Libya has stepped up maritime interceptions amid a wave of attempts by migrants and refugees to reach Europe.
The Libyan coast guard intercepted a wooden boat carrying around 500 migrants and refugees bound for Europe, the United Nations refugee agency said, two days after Tripoli arrested 4,000 people during a massive repression.
The boat was intercepted on Sunday and people were disembarked at an oil refinery point in the western town of Zawiya, a major departure point for migrants and refugees, according to UNHCR. Among them were Sudanese, Somali, Bangladeshi and Syrian nationals.
The interception at sea marked the latest of these interventions amid an increase in crossings and attempted crossings from the North African nation to European coasts in recent months.
The Libyan coast guard on Saturday intercepted about 90 migrants, including eight women and three children, and returned them to Tripoli. He also recovered the bodies of two migrants, while 40 others were still missing at sea, the UN agency said.
Friday, 4,000 migrants were arrested, including hundreds of women and children, in the western town of Gargaresh.
Authorities described it as a security campaign against undocumented migration and drug trafficking, but the Home Office, which led the crackdown, made no mention of the arrest of traffickers or smugglers.
Georgette Gagnon, resident assistant secretary general and UN humanitarian coordinator for Libya, said in a statement on Saturday that a migrant was killed and at least 15 others injured – including six seriously – when Libyan security authorities raided houses and temporary premises. makeshift shelters in Gargaresh.
“The United Nations reiterates that the use of excessive and unwarranted lethal force by security and police forces during law enforcement operations is a violation of national and international law,” Gagnon said.
“We call on the Libyan authorities to investigate reports of the use of deadly and excessive force by the security forces against migrants during yesterday’s operations.
Libya has become the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. Those intercepted are often taken to detention centers, where international organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have found violent abuse be widespread.
Some 44,000 people reached European shores crossing the central Mediterranean from Tunisia and Libya in the first nine months of 2021, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
More than 25,000 people have been intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard trained and equipped by the European Union and returned to this war-torn country.
More than 1,100 migrants have been reported dead or presumed dead off Libya during the same period.
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