Bangladeshis among 158 illegal migrants rescued off Libyan coast

Libyan Coast Guard rescued 158 illegal migrants, including Bangladeshis, in two separate operations off the western coast on Sunday.

In the first operation, a patrol boat found 73 migrants (40 men, 25 women and 8 children) and recovered bodies of a woman and a kid after their rubber boat capsized 14 miles north of Qarabulli town, east of Tripoli, reported The Libyan Observer yesterday, quoting the Libyan Navy as saying.

Around 25 migrants are still missing. The migrants on board the rubber boat were from Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire.

In the second rescue operation, the Coast Guard rescued 85 migrants including 75 men, 5 women and 5 children after the motor of their boat broke down off Khoms city.

The migrants were from Sudan, Chad, Bangladesh, Egypt, Niger, Somalia, Burkina Faso, and Libya.

A new wave of migrants heading to EU shores is expected to emerge due to the current fighting in southern Tripoli, coupled with suitable summer conditions.

In a boat capsize on May 9, some 65 migrants, including 40 Bangladeshis, died in the Mediterranean.

According to UN Migration Agency, as many as 443 migrants either died or went missing in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe in boats as of May 8 this year. The figures were 2,299 in 2018 and 3,139 in 2017.