Nearly 650 migrants attempting to reach European shores were intercepted by coast guards outside the city of Benghazi, the east Libyan Navy headquarters said on its Facebook page on Saturday. “Navy special forces patrol boats intercepted a trawler with nearly 650 illegal immigrants on board,” he said in a statement.
According to the same source, the boat was towed and taken to a special forces naval base in Benghazi port.
According to Navy Commander Ramzi Najem, quoted in the statement, “naval special forces became aware of the presence of illegal migrants aboard a trawler northwest of Benghazi” that was carrying several hundred people, including Bangladeshis, Syrians and Egyptians.
The chaos that followed the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011 made Libya a preferred route for tens of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, Arab countries and South Asia trying to reach Europe via Italy’s shores.
While the vast majority of boats have so far left western Libya, we can see that departures from the beaches in the east of the country have multiplied in recent times, often aboard trawlers and large fishing boats. .
Also read Libyan Heritage: The Art of Bleaching
Migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean at risk of their lives fall victim to ruthless traffickers and, if intercepted, are returned to the Libyan coast and placed in detention centers regularly denounced by NGOs for ill-treatment.