OVER 1,000 refugees attempted to flee Libya across the central Mediterranean between Thursday and this morning and still more rickety boats are leaving as the weather improves. An NGO refugee rescue ship, Ocean Viking, said it picked up 237 refugees in two separate missions on Thursday and around 180 more in two boats this morning. Later this afternoon the Astral, another NGO rescue ship, found a group of 45 people who spent three days at sea on a flimsy inflatable boat. The suffering of migrants in Libya and in the central Mediterranean is intolerable, IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli told the Star today. “Unfortunately Moonbird also had to witness the so-called Libyan Coastguard intercepting two boats and [returning] several hundred people back to Libya.

Source: Libya Today February 05, 2021 17:15 UTC