Libyan Coast Guard Rescues Almost 90 Undocumented Migrants In Mediterranean Sea - Navy

TRIPOLI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2019) The Libyan Coast Guard has rescued 89 illegal migrants off Libya's coast in the Mediterranean Sea, the spokesperson of the Libyan Navy, Ayoub Qassem, told Sputnik on Sunday.

"Upon receiving a message from the Coast Guard's incident room about a distress signal from boats with irregular migrants on board on Saturday, the Fezzan ship of the first unit of the Tripoli coast guard took off with a rescue mission during which 89 illegal migrants were rescued on board an inflatable boat 75 kilometers [46.6 miles] north-east to the city of Khoms. Among them were 16 women and two children," Qassem said.

He added that the rescued migrants came from various African countries and had received the necessary medical and humanitarian aid before being handed over to the appropriate border control services.

The so-called Mediterranean route is one of the most popular, but also the most dangerous tracks of irregular migration to the European continent. Thousands of illegal migrants risk their lives embarking upon a sea passage on unsafe, decrepit boats not designed for such long transfers and often operated by smugglers. According to the International Organization for Migration, an approximate 600 people have died since January trying to reach Europe by sea via the Mediterranean.