NEARLY 1,000 refugees were intercepted and returned to Libya over the weekend, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) warned today. “This system must be dismantled and the approach to migration in the Mediterranean needs to shift to a more humane policy that focuses on management rather than containment.”German refugee rescue organisation Sea Watch observed three of these interceptions from the skies in their reconnaissance aircraft Seabird. Sea-Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebauer told the Star: “It is a scandal that the EU does everything to avoid people asking for asylum. “Even radio communications were overheard in which a Maltese aircraft directly co-ordinated a ‘pushback’ out of the Maltese search-and-rescue zone. “We do not know if they are still at sea or if they have been intercepted back to Libya,” Alarm Phone warned.

Source: Libya Today March 29, 2021 17:03 UTC