- Title: Over 100 migrants detained in Libya
- Date: 22nd October 2016
- Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (OCTOBER 22, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BOAT USED BY MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF LIFEJACKETS AND PERSONAL BELONGINGS ON BOAT VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SEATED ON GROUND IN PORT AREA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MARITIME AFFAIRS AT TRIPOLI PORT, MOHAMED GAMAL, SAYING: "At around 8 o'clock this morning, I received information that there were a number of illegal migrants at Tripoli port, they were near the sea wall in Tripoli. A team from the Tripoli security office and naval forces came out and they captured 112 migrants of different African nationalities." VARIOUS OF MIGRANT WITH BANDAGED FOOT VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SEATED ON GROUND VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS IN AMBULANCE VARIOUS OF SITTING AND LYING ON GROUND VARIOUS OF LIMPING MIGRANTS BEING HELPED VARIOUS OF LIBYAN COAST GUARD DISTRIBUTING SANDWICHES AND DRINKS TO MIGRANTS VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS EATING VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SEATED ON GROUND
- Embargoed: 6th November 2016 16:18
- Keywords: migrants refugees African boat Libya
- Location: TRIPOLI, LIBYA
- City: TRIPOLI, LIBYA
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015535SUF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Libyan authorities detained over 100 migrants in Tripoli on Saturday (October 22) a day after the Libyan coast guard intercepted their boat in the Mediterranean.
Libyan naval forces have denied accusations by a rescue organisation that one of their crew had attacked the boat, causing many of the migrants to fall into the sea and at least four to drown.
A spokesman for the naval forces in Tripoli said a patrol had only boarded one vessel to check why it was in Libyan waters.
Germany-based Sea-Watch, one of several non-governmental organisations operating vessels off the coast of Libya, said on Friday a speedboat marked "Libyan Coast Guard" swooped in as they went to the aid of an overcrowded rubber boat in the early hours.
Of the 150 people on board the migrant boat, four fell into the sea and drowned while 112 were later arrested according to the head of the department of maritime affairs at Tripoli's port.
After their arrest, the migrants were seen sitting on the ground at Tripoli's port and some appeared to have sustained minor injuries during Friday's events.
Others appeared to be suffering from fatigue and exhaustion.
Migrant rescues are often complicated in Libya, where the U.N.-backed Tripoli government struggles to impose its authority. The Libyan coast guard is under-equipped and police units are run by some of the competing armed brigades.
In August, another humanitarian group that operates rescue ships off the coast of Libya, Doctors Without Borders, said it had been attacked and boarded by armed men on a Libyan navy boat. The Libyan navy said it fired "warning shots" because it thought the ship was involved in people smuggling. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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