More than 3,000 migrants arrested in Libya smuggling hub
More than 3,000 illegal migrants have been arrested in Libya’s northwestern city of Sabratha, as the country’s unity government authorities push a crackdown on human trafficking to Europe.
“We arrested 3,150 illegal immigrants of different Asian, Arab, and African nationalities,” Bassem Ghrabli, the commander of a force loyal to Libya’s unity government, said on Saturday.
Ghrabli said his forces had also driven a rival militia, led by the head of a former people-smuggling network, out of Sabratha after three weeks of fighting.
The unity government’s health ministry said the clashes left 39 people dead and 300 others wounded, adding that the fighting also damaged schools, hospitals, and UNESCO-listed archaeological sites in the city, which is located 70 kilometers west of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
Sabratha became a major hub for migrants seeking a chance to head to Europe after the ouster and death of long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Local smugglers took advantage of a security vacuum in the conflict-plagued country and took over whole sections of the city, building their own piers equipped to launch dozens of migrant boats a day.
Refugees and asylum seekers are packed onto unseaworthy boats and dinghies by smugglers in the hope of crossing the Mediterranean and reaching Europe. If they don’t capsize en route, the boats are usually intercepted by European vessels once they enter international waters.
Half a million people, mainly sub-Saharan Africans, have managed to make the perilous sea journey from Libya and reach Italy over the past four years. About 13,000 others have drowned. Over 106,000 refugees and asylum seekers have arrived in Italy from Libya since last August. More than 2,700 also died en route, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Protests in Morocco as US-flagged ship carrying arms to Tel Aviv docks at Tangier
Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
Algeria votes with President Tebboune expecting easy re-election
Diplomat discourages recourse to pressure, intimidation, confrontation against Iran
UN: 2024 deadliest year for aid workers amid genocide in Gaza
Gaza health official warns of hospital shutdowns within 48 hours
Israel kills 5 more paramedics in southern Lebanon: Health ministry
Iran to launch ‘new, advanced’ centrifuges in response to IAEA resolution: AEOI
Yemen fires hypersonic missile at Israeli airbase
VIDEO | New Delhi chokes under toxic smog as air quality remains at hazardous levels
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
