Two merchant ships took part in operations to rescue the migrants “at the request of the Libyan navy”, he added. The Italian government said it had been in contact with Libyan authorities to help them rescue the survivors. Some 170 migrants have died in two shipwrecks over recent days in the Mediterranean, the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR said. Today, tens of thousands of migrants a year seek help from human traffickers to make the crossing to Italy, 300 kilometres from the Libyan coast. Controversial deals reached in Libya, along with Rome’s decision to close its ports to ships that rescued migrants at sea, have drastically cut the number of arrivals to Italian coasts since mid-2017.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 22, 2019 21:11 UTC