The number of migrants and refugees who have been intercepted while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Italy tripled year-on-year during the first half of 2021, Duccio Staderini, the search and rescue representative for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told Sputnik in an interview, adding that the current conditions in Libya's migrant detention camps forced the NGO to temporarily withdraw its services
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2021) The number of migrants and refugees who have been intercepted while crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to Italy tripled year-on-year during the first half of 2021, Duccio Staderini, the search and rescue representative for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told Sputnik in an interview, adding that the current conditions in Libya's migrant detention camps forced the NGO to temporarily withdraw its services.
More than 13,000 people have been intercepted at sea and returned to Libya since the start of the year, according to data published by the International Rescue Committee, and Staderini said that this figure was three times more than the same period in 2020.
"What we know is that interceptions have tripled from January to June compared to last year. This is despite the fact that all the observers, in particular the UN and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, are stating that Libya is not a place of safety for the purpose of the disembarkation of people rescued at sea because it doesn't grant them the right then to apply for asylum and to be, I would say, hosted in respect of international humanitarian law, rules and regulations," MSF's search and rescue representative said.
Migrants and refugees attempting to make the arduous journey across the Mediterranean Sea are well aware of the risks that they are taking, indicating that they see no other option than to try and cross into Europe, Staderini remarked.
"We believe they know that they are taking these risks, and if somebody chooses to board a rubber boat and risk shipwreck in order to cross the Mediterranean, of course, they must be motivated by the fact that they probably have no other option," he said.
In late June, MSF announced that it would withdraw its medical services from two migrant detention centers in Tripoli, citing an increase in violence against detainees and worsening humanitarian conditions.
"We know that the levels of violence and exploitation in which they are hosted in the detention camps in Libya are not acceptable and that forced us as MSF to withdraw from these camps a few weeks ago, after working there to offer medical assistance to the people detained in the centers," Staderini remarked.
In a press release published in June, MSF called on the Libyan authorities to put an end to violence and ensure an improvement in the conditions for refugees and migrants at both the Mabani and Abu Salim detention centers.
As many as 741 people died while attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean route in the first half of the year, more than double the number of deaths recorded on the same route between January and August 2020, according to data supplied by the International Organization for Migration.
