EUROPE-MIGRANTS/LIBYA-ARRESTS Libyan security officials detain 86 migrants

Record ID: 150936

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/LIBYA-ARRESTS Libyan security officials detain 86 migrants
  • Date: 11th June 2015
  • Summary: GARBOULI, LIBYA (JUNE 11, 2015) (REUTERS) LIBYAN SECURITY OFFICIALS RUNNING ALONG A DIRT ROAD LEADING TO THE SMUGGLER HIDE-OUT OFFICIALS AND POLICE CARS PARKED IN FRONT OF WHERE MIGRANTS WERE THOUGHT TO BE HIDING WEAPON MOUNTED ON BACK OF TRUCK VARIOUS OF TWO SECURITY OFFICIALS STANDING ON TOP OF A POLICE VEHICLE VARIOUS OF SECURITY OFFICIALS, SOME ARMED, ESCORTING DETAINE
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAEOENGT8XWEYSUOOBC8DFZQU39
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Libyan security officials said they had detained 86 illegal migrants, mainly from Mali, on Thursday (June 11).
    The arrests followed a raid on a smuggler hide-out in the coastal town of Garbouli, 50 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli.
    After the migrants, including women, children and babies, were detained on land, a Libyan migration official described the operation.
    "We stopped a boat and on it were 86 migrants from different nationalities, most of them from Mali," said Mohammed al Bakkar.
    Officials said that initially the migrants had tried to flee, with many of them falling over in the sand, while others ran into the sea.
    Some migrants were said to have escaped, but officials at the scene added that the smuggler and his aide were both arrested during the raid.
    Libya is the main launching site for thousands of illegal migrants fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.
    The conflict in Libya between two rival governments and their armed forces has fomented a breakdown of order that smugglers have been quick to exploit to try to send thousands of illegal migrants across the Mediterranean to mainland Europe.
    European leaders are increasingly concerned that Libya will become a failed state if the rival factions fail to accept a U.N.-sponsored peace deal.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register