100 stranded migrants off Italian coast finally allwoed to disembark on Lampedusa

BY Libyan Express Aug 21, 2019 - 14:38

Libyan coastguard intercepts Italy-bound migrant ship after ‘sea duel’ [Photo: The Local Italy]

A boat carrying about 250 people, mainly from Eritrea and other sub-Saharan African and Arab countries, capsized last month off the coast near Al-Khoms, east of the capital Tripoli.

Libyan coast guards and local fishermen rescued 134 people while about 115 were missing, bringing the death toll of Mediterranean migrants to over 600 this year.

That put 2019 on course to be the sixth year in a row with more than 1,000 deaths, UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said at the time.

Meanwhile, nearly 100 migrants who had been stranded on the ‘Open Arms’ rescue ship off the coast of Lampedusa disembarked on the Italian island last night, ending a prolonged stand-off between the Spanish charity operating the boat and the government in Rome.

The migrants, mainly from Africa, were removed from the boat after an Italian prosecutor ordered the seizure of the ship and the evacuation of the people on board.

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