25 migrants found dead on Libya coast

By AFP
Some of the corpses were washed ashore on a
beach near the Libyan capital, but most were on
rocks off the suburb of Tajoura.
The bodies of at least 25 migrants who
drowned trying to reach Europe were found
near Tripoli Tuesday, the Libyan Red
Crescent said.
Some of the corpses were washed ashore on a
beach near the Libyan capital, but most were on
rocks off the suburb of Tajoura in a state of
decomposition, an AFP photographer at the scene
said.
The onset of warm weather has seen a surge in
migrants boarding boats for the perilous journey
across the Mediterranean, putting pressure on
rescue services.
Italy's coastguard said more than 8,000 migrants
had been rescued off the coast of Libya in a 48-
hour period to Tuesday.
Its Libyan counterpart said it had rescued 147
migrants, including 19 women and four children,
off the western town of Sabratha on Tuesday
morning.
Most were young people from Cameroon, Sudan,
Mali and Senegal, said Libyan navy spokesman
General Ayoub Qassem.
They were found crammed aboard a makeshift
rubber dinghy, said an AFP cameraman who was
on the rescue boat.
The coastguard moved them one by one onto a
rescue vessel.
Once on board, the migrants remained silent, tired
and visibly disappointed at not reaching their
destination.
On their arrival in the port of Zawiya, west of
Tripoli, they were put in a truck to be taken to a
detention centre in the town.
A woman clutching her baby sobbed in the truck,
her dreams of reaching Europe having evaporated
in a matter of hours -- along with the money she
paid for the journey.
The navy spokesman, Qassem, said several
migrant boats were spotted off Libya on Tuesday
along with at least six privately operated ships
"claiming to carry out rescue operations".
One of the vessels entered Libyan waters before
the coastguard forced it to leave, he said,
accusing the boats' operators of "complicity" with
people smugglers.
Migrants intercepted or rescued by Libya's
coastguard are usually held in detention centres
until they are sent home.
But many become prey to extortion and abuse at
the hands of human traffickers, who have
exploited years of chaos in Libya to boost their
lucrative but deadly trade.
More than 73,300 migrants have landed on Italy's
shores since January, a 14-percent rise on the
same period last year.
Just over 2,000 people have died or gone
missing feared drowned while attempting the
crossing since the beginning of 2017, according
to the UN's refugee agency.