At least 239 migrants, believed to be from West Africa, have died in two shipwrecks off Libya, a spokesman for the United Nations migration agency, said on Thursday. Another two women reported surviving a separate disaster that happened at about the same time. October saw a surge in migrant arrivals in Italy, with 27,388 arriving, more than the two previous Octobers combined, and bringing this year’s total arrivals to over 158,000, di Giacomo said. The smugglers who arrange the journeys have told migrants that European training of Libyan coastguards means the rescue missions will soon be handed over to Libya and any rescued migrants will be taken ashore in Libya rather than Italy, di Giacomo said. That was possibly causing the rush to board boats now, he said, although the information, gleaned from rescued migrants, was not confirmed.

Source: Libya Today November 03, 2016 12:56 UTC