Libya forces detain 112 after refugee boat incident
Libya has arrested more than 100 refugees following an incident where the coast guard attacked their boat off the coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
The department of maritime affairs in the port of Tripoli said 112 refugees were arrested on Saturday.
Some of the detainees were sighted by reporters on the ground at the port. Some appeared to have sustained minor injuries during the events on Friday. Others seemed to be suffering from fatigue and exhaustion.
The Libyan Coast Guard denied accusations brought up against it by Sea-Watch, a Berlin-based non-governmental organization, which said four of the refugees fell into the water and drowned overnight Thursday, when a speedboat with armed men on board and labeled “Libyan Coast Guard” intercepted the refugees’ vessel.
A spokesman for the Libyan naval forces in Tripoli said one of its patrol boats had stopped the vessel to check why it was in the Libyan waters.
The NGO said the attackers beat the passengers with sticks. "One tube of the rubber boat collapsed, causing the majority of the 150 people to slip into the water," Sea-Watch stated.
Ruben Neugebauer, the NGO’s spokesman, said the group was still conducting rescue operations.
The refugee boat was packed with about 150 people.
MSF rescues 120, but nine refugees drown
In a separate development on Saturday, Doctors Without Borders, also known as the MSF by its French acronym, said its rescuers had taken 120 people from a sinking rubber boat to safety in the Mediterranean.
Survivors rescued by the medical charity said six adults and four children were missing.
Nine bodies were found later in the day on another vessel. The cause of their death remains unclear.
Meanwhile, the Italian Coast Guard, which coordinates rescue operations in the area, said about 3,300 refugees had been rescued in 24 operations on Friday.
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