„Libya’s coastguard detains more than 400 immigrants en route to Europe

By Feras Bosalum and Julia Payne

(Reuters) – Libya’s coastguard has detained more than 400 immigrants, mostly from the Horn of Africa, in its waters in the past two days as they tried to illegally cross to Europe in small boats, Libyan officials said on Thursday.

The coastguard picked up five boatloads of people. Warning shots were fired at several vessels, and 78 people were rescued from a sinking ship, said navy spokesman Qassem Ayoub.

Most of those taken into custody came from Somalia and Eritrea, and a handful were from Ghana and Nigeria. Some are held at a Tripoli police station and are being examined by a United Nations medical team, said the deputy commander of naval operations, Mohammed al Baty.

More than 400 people were detained in all, Ayoub said. „We noticed that the boats that had been caught contain sequential numbers, and so we expect that there are some boats that have been able to sneak to the other side of the Mediterranean Sea,“ he added. […]“

via Libya’s coastguard detains more than 400 immigrants en route to Europe | Reuters