Libya Herald | 18.05.2017

Coastguard rescues over 500 off Sabratha and Garabulli

Over 500 migrants whose boats were in difficulty were rescued this morning in two separate operations by the Libyan coastguard.

According to Commodore Ayoub Qasim, the Libyan naval spokesman, some 400 people aboard what he called a “rowing boat” were rescued off Sabratha, 80 kilometres east of Tripoli. Another 120 were rescued off Garabulli, 60 kilometres east of the capital.

At a press conference to announce the rescues, Qasim again defended the conduct of the coastguard in the dispute with German NGO Sea-Watch which has accused it of interfering in a rescue operation, endangering the lives of its own crew as well as of some 500 migrants it was trying to rescue.

Qasim again claimed that the incident took place in Libyan waters, something Sea-Watch denies. He also claimed that the coastguard boat had been in touch with Sea-Watch during the rescue. It, he said, had told Sea-Watch that with some 500 migrants involved there were too many people for it to rescue. He alleged that it had then replied that it was going to give the boat people life vests and wait for another vessel to pick them up. He claimed there was not enough time for this.t to rescue. He alleged that it had then replied that it was going to give the boat people life vests and wait for another vessel to pick them up.  He claimed there was not enough time for this.

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The Lybia Observer | 18.05.2017

Libyan coastguards rescue over 500 immigrants, exchange fire with smugglers

500 illegal immigrants were rescued off the Libyan coast on Thursday, said the spokesman of the Libyan Navy, Ayoub Qassim, adding that a patrol from the Libyan Coast Guard exchanged fire with smugglers off Matrad town, western Libya.

Qassim added that they rescued the migrants – African, Arab, and Bangladeshi – from aboard a wooden boat, on which there were 463 migrants, including 27 women and 8 children, 11 miles north of Sabratha city.

The patrol saw three other boats for human smugglers transferring other migrants into dinghies in the middle of the seawater awaiting to sail to Europe, so when the patrol neared the location, the smugglers opened fire on its boat forcing the patrol to respond to the gunfire with similar action, according to Qassim.

When the exchange of fire took place, the smugglers and migrants‘ boats sailed back ashore, Qassim explained.

One dinghy was left in the water as it had no engine and had about 40 African migrants onboard, Qassim indicated, saying that those migrants were also rescued by the Libyan coastguards and were taken ashore.
The patrol of the Libyan coast returned to Al-Zawiya Refinery port, where the Coast Guard checkpoint is located, at 7:00 am Thursday, said the Navy spokesman.

„We helped the migrants receive good humanitarian assistance and then took them to Al-Naser migration shelter center in Al-Zawiya.“ Qassim concluded.