Libya says 23 Europe-bound migrants intercepted off coast
Posted Jul 12, 2019 08:29:35 AM.
CAIRO — Libya’s coast guard says it intercepted a vessel carrying 23 Europe-bound migrants, including two women, off the country’s Mediterranean coast.
The Libyan naval media office said Thursday that the migrants were from Egypt, Sudan and Libya, and had been picked up the previous day 18 miles north of the coastal Mellitah oil and gas complex.
The statement posted on its official Facebook page said the migrants were given humanitarian and medical aid, then taken to a refugee camp in the northwestern city of Zawiya.
Libya became a major conduit for African migrants and refugees fleeing to Europe after the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
The Associated Press
