Libyan coastguards have reportedly intercepted almost 500 migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to southern Europe.
The migrants were discovered tightly-packed onto a wooden boat on Wednesday. The coastguards said that they warned off a ship that was preparing to pick the migrants up for passage to Europe.
Footage filmed by Sea-Watch, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), captured a Libyan coastguard vessel coming within metres of its own ship as it sped to stop the migrant boat.
In Tripoli, where the migrants are currently being held, coastguard spokesman Ayoub Qassem said the incident had occurred within 30 kilometres north of Libya’s coast.
Amid the rescue mission, confusion played out as two boats from different organisations tried to save the migrants.
“An international rescue organisation called Sea-Watch tried to hinder the work of our coastguard, in a bid to take the migrants, claiming Libya is not safe for migrants,” Qassem said.
Ruben Neugebauer, a spokesman for Sea-Watch, told local media that the NGO had received instruction from Italy’s coastguard control centre in Rome that the Libyan coastguard would be taking over “on-scene command”, and that the Sea-Watch ship had stopped to await further instructions.
“Without any warning, they crossed our bow on the way to the migrant boat,” Neugebauer said.
“They made an extremely dangerous manoeuvre. They nearly hit our boat, they endangered our crew.”
Libya has been the main departure point for many migrants from sub-Saharan Africa countries who are hoping to reach Europe by sea. Recently it was said that over 5,000 human trafficking victims from Nigeria would be deported from Libya, a sign of the range of abuses migrants face as they attempt to make the journey to mainland Europe.
Many migrants who are discovered by Libyan coastguards are turned back and often delivered to detention centres notorious for poor conditions and ill-treatment. Currently north Africa coastguards are receiving training from the European Union to limit migrant departures and deaths.
Migrants discovered by European based coastguards are often taken to Italy.
In a statement, Qassem said that the wooden boat intercepted on Wednesday was carrying nearly 300 Moroccans, 145 Bangladeshis, 23 Tunisians, and other migrants from elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East.
Those on board said they had left the western Libyan city of Sabratha on Tuesday night. There were about 20 women, some five of whom were being taken for medical treatment as they arrived in Tripoli. One appeared to be seriously ill.
One 24-year-old Moroccan man told Middle East Monitor, that he had come to Libya five weeks earlier in order to try to reach Europe. A 28-year-old man, also Moroccan, said he had been working in Libya for four years, but had decided to leave because the situation was deteriorating.
A Syrian woman on board also told Middle East Monitor that she had travelled through six countries to reach Libya, paying $1,000 in each and leaving two sons aged 12 and 13 behind in Jordan.
“I wanted to leave for Europe,” she said. “It was an attempt to get a better life and reunite my whole family in Europe, but unfortunately we couldn’t make it.”
