LONDON - There’s been a spike in the number of migrant boats leaving Libya’s coastline this week, the UN migration agency, IOM, said on Friday.
More than 600 people were discovered in the waters off Libya between Tuesday and Thursday. The development comes amid some of the heaviest shelling so far in the capital Tripoli, where the Libyan coastguard is reported to have returned nearly 300 migrants to shore, including 14 children and 33 women.
The UN Migration agency said it is unable to verify reports that another vessel sank on Wednesday evening with significant loss of life.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 8,600 migrants have been returned to detention centres in Libya where the UN has frequently condemned serious rights violations.
