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Africa North
NGOs resume ‘rescue’ operations, pick up 110 Migrants off Libyan Coast
2023-01-09
[LibyaReview] The Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) search and rescue vessel, Geo Barents announced that it had rescued 73 migrants colonists, including 16 unaccompanied minors.

In a statement on Sunday, the NGO said that the migrants colonists were traveling in an unstable and overcrowded inflatable boat off the coast of Libya.

"The survivors are doing well, and are being cared for by the MSF medical team on board," it added.

Earlier today, the Ocean Viking belonging to the SOS Méditerranée organization, rescued 37 people. It was sent to the Adriatic port of Ancona, for about four days, by the Italian authorities. It is expected that the same will happen to MSF, despite worsening weather conditions in the coming days.

Both ships resumed operations in the central Mediterranean on Wednesday. These were the first to do so since tough new measures for rescuing NGO’s were approved by Italia’s far-right government of Giorgia Meloni.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed that 24,684 migrants colonists were intercepted in the Mediterranean, and returned to Libya in 2022.

According to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, the IOM stated that the number of migrants colonists witnessed a decrease of 24% in 2021, at 32,425 migrants colonists.

The UN body confirmed that it recorded 1,373 drowned or missing persons, during the past year. It announced that the Libyan Coast Guard had rescued 633 migrants colonists off the coast of Libya, and returned them from 27 November to 3 December 2022.

It has also confirmed that it has "helped repatriate 60,000 migrants colonists from Libya to their home countries over the past seven years, in a safe and dignified manner, through the Voluntary Humanitarian Return Program."

The IOM described this voluntary program, which has been in operation since 2015, as "a crucial lifeline for stranded migrants colonists from 46 different countries across Africa and Asia, who want to return home and rebuild their lives."

Notably, the IOM announced that 1,088 migrants colonists were intercepted and returned to Libya, from 25-31 December 2022.

The UN organization also added that the Libyan eastern authorities intercepted at sea 3,404 people and returned them to Libya in the last five weeks of 2022.
Posted by:trailing wife

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