18 March 2020
The International Organization for Migration has called the returns "unacceptable".
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"Over 400 migrants have been picked up by the Libyan coast guard and returned to Libya over the weekend. That’s according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which called the action “unacceptable.”
The UN organization for migration decried the fact that this weekend, over 400 Europe-bound migrants were returned to Libya by the Libyan coast guard in several operations. The IOM counted 301 people who were intercepted and taken back to Tripoli on Saturday, March 14 and a further 105 on two different boats on Sunday, March 15.
The IOM communications officer Safa Msehli said: "It is unacceptable for this to continue despite repeated calls to put an end to the return of vulnerable people to detention and abuse.""
Over 400 migrants returned to Libya over weekend (InfoMigrants, link)
And see: 49 asylum seekers in Maltese waters taken back to Libya and beaten - NGO (Times of Malta, link)
COVID-19: No one is safe until All are protected!
Open access book: Europe and the Refugee Response: A Crisis of Values?
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