The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Tripoli / AFP
Libyan coastguards said they detained 550 people trying to reach Europe illegally by boat on Tuesday, the second time in three days they have intercepted migrants in the same area.
“Coastguards in the west who were patrolling off the Zawiya refinery on Tuesday intercepted four large inflatables carrying around 550 illegal migrants,†navy spokesman Colonel Ayoub Qassem said. Those detained were from “several African countries†and included three children and 30 women, eight of whom are pregnant, he said. “The migrants have been handed over to the relevant authorities ,†Qassem said. Qassem said that coastguards had intercepted seven vessels carrying around 850 migrants, again off Zawiya which is some 45 kilometres west of the capital Tripoli.
The chaos in the North African country since Moamer Kadhafi’s overthrow in 2011 has been exploited by people traffickers.