Libyan coast guard rescues 88 migrants at sea

In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, the Coast Guard said its vessel Wadi Kaam 300P "managed to rescue 88 illegal migrants of different nationalities" off the Libyan coast after receiving a report that their boat had broken down.

The migrants were disembarked at Tripoli port, the statement said.

"Legal measures were taken against them and they were handed over to the Illegal Migration Control Department after they received the proper medical care, in the presence of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)," it added.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), as many as 493 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya between January 5 and January 11.

The migrants included 47 women and 17 children, IOM said, noting that three bodies of migrants were also retrieved.

In 2024, 21,762 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 674 died and 1,015 went missing on the Central Mediterranean route, including those departing from Libya and other countries.

Since the fall of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the ensuing insecurity and chaos in Libya have prompted many migrants, primarily from Africa, to attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores, Xinhua news agency reported.

Last month, Libya deported a group of migrants to Niger by land, the first such deportation in years.

The department said in a statement on its Facebook page that the deportation took place in the presence of Niger's charge d'affaires to Libya.

The migrants were deported across the land border with Niger "for violating applicable Libyan laws" after completing necessary procedures, the statement said. It added that deportations of migrants from Libya to their countries of origin would continue.

The IOM estimates that there are 787,326 migrants in Libya, with 41 per cent of them reporting they experienced shocks such as environmental, political, or economic hardship before migrating to Libya.