(VALLETTA, Malta) — A Maltese special operations team on Thursday boarded a tanker that had been hijacked by migrants rescued at sea, and returned control to the captain, before escorting it to a Maltese port. Several police vans were lined up on shore to take custody of the migrants for investigation. Malta has put the number of migrants rescued at 108. View Sample Sign Up NowThe ship had been heading toward Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa and the island 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.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 28, 2019 06:53 UTC