ICERAS

Libyan Coast Guard has brought back tens of thousands

Zerai is a Catholic priest originally from Eritrea and a previous candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.

He said that since the start of the year, the Libyan coast guard has “blocked, and not rescued and saved at sea” 27,041 refugees and migrants who managed to escape Libya, “bringing them back and returning them largely to the suffering of detention centers.”

He said 7,865 others were arrested on land prior to embarking, or at the southern border and along the routes that lead to the coast.

The Libyan government also directed commercial ships that had picked up and rescued another 353 migrants and refugees at sea to bring them back to Libya.

In all, some 35,259 people “were prevented from asking Europe for help and asylum, as is their inviolable right.” readmore