CAIRO - 31 July 2020: Libya's navy said on Friday that it has rescued 121 African migrants who were heading to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea. The spokesman for the Libyan Navy said the migrants were picked up in waters by the Libyan coastal guards. This comes within the state’s humanitarian and sovereignty efforts to protect the Libyan shores and provide rescue services. The UNHCR said in January alone, it registered 1,040 refugees and migrants the coast guard stopped and brought back to Libyan shores, a dramatic increase from the 469 rescued that month the year before. The UN refugee agency stated in February that the total number of migrants intercepted by the Libyan coast guard in January rose 121 percent from the same period last year.

Source: Egypt Today July 31, 2021 12:43 UTC