LIBYA yesterday said it has rescued 205 migrants in a navy operation off the coast of Tripoli.

The rescue happened on Friday, with 158 men, 33 women and 14 children taken from three inflatable boats off the coast of Zawiyah, 45km west of the capital, said a navy statement.

After receiving calls for help, coast guards found the boats between 83km and 93km offshore, it said.

The migrants, from African nations including Mali, Ivory Coast and Guinea, were returned to port in east Tripoli.

Rescued migrants returned to Libya are often held at overcrowded detention centres, where a lack of regulation means people face torture, sexual abuse and forced labour.

Their situation deteriorated after fighting broke out south of Tripoli in April, with forces loyal to eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar attempting to seize the capital from the unity government.

The battle has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced 120,000, according to the United Nations.

Some 40,000 refugees and asylum seekers also live outside detention centres in urban areas, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The chaos that followed the fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011 enhanced Libya’s status as a transit route to Europe for migrants coming from the Sahel, eastern Africa and the Middle East. – AFP, December 1, 2019.