Several police vans were lined up on shore to take custody of the migrants for investigation, and four migrants were led off the ship in handcuffs. Malta has put the number of migrants rescued at 108. The ship had been heading toward Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa and the island nation of Malta when Maltese forces intercepted it. Humanitarian organizations say that migrants are mistreated and even tortured in Libya, and have protested protocols to return migrants rescued offshore to the lawless northern African nation. After 10 days, Libyan authorities forcibly removed them from the ship and brought them to a detention centre.

Source: National Post March 28, 2019 13:30 UTC