Interception of Boat Carring 400 Migrants
7th December 2011
According to the ECRE newsbulletin
Libyan officials claimed on Tuesday 6th December that LIBYA intercepted a boat carrying 400 sub-Saharan migrants shortly after it left Libya attempting to sail to Italy. Journalists who interviewed some of the arrested migrants reported the incident appeared to have been staged. Interior Minister Fawzi Abd al All told in a news conference that the interception and arrests showed the new government was serious about stopping illegal migration to Europe.
According to Migrants at Sea:
An Armed Forces of Malta patrol boat rescued 44 Somalis from a sinking 7 metre dingy early morning of 6th December. The rescue took place about 70 nautical miles south of Malta. The migrants have been taken to Malta. The boat is believed to have departed from Libya on Saturday. Survivors reported that two persons died during the voyage.