Libya's Coast Guard Intercepts Migrant Boat, Returns Dozens to Shore

Libya's coast guard intercepted a boat carrying 64 Europe-bound migrants near Sirte, returning them to shore. This incident follows a recent shipwreck off Tobruk, leaving 22 missing or dead. Libya, fraught with chaos since 2011, has become a hub for human traffickers exploiting migrants seeking better lives in Europe.

Libya's coast guard intercepted a Europe-bound boat carrying 64 migrants near the northwestern town of Sirte, returning them to shore on Friday. This action follows a tragic shipwreck off the eastern town of Tobruk, which left 22 migrants missing or deceased.

The migrants in the intercepted boat, including a woman and a child, were shown in images posted by the coast guard on Facebook. To prevent the vessel from being reused by traffickers, the coast guard set it ablaze. The unrest in Libya since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising has turned the country into a major transit hub for migrants escaping war and poverty to reach Europe.

Human traffickers have increasingly exploited the chaos within Libya, sending migrants on perilous sea journeys in overcrowded and poorly-equipped vessels. As per the International Organisation for Migration, at least 434 migrants have died and 611 went missing off Libya from January to August this year, with more than 14,100 intercepted and returned to shore.

Upon interception, migrants are detained in government-run centers plagued by abuses such as forced labor, beatings, rapes, and torture, as reported by UN-commissioned investigators. The abusive practices are often tied to extortion attempts aimed at extracting money from migrants' families before they are either released or sent to Europe on traffickers' boats.

(With inputs from agencies.)