Some commercial ships that have rescued people in danger have lied about their destination, according to a telephone hotline that helps migrants lost at sea. Alarm Phone says the crews of several ships led migrants to believe they would be dropped off in Europe, but instead returned them to Libya.
For two years, Sissoko, a 31-year-old Malian, has been trying to recover from his crossing of the Mediterranean. Of around 130 people who boarded the ship, 62 died, including all the children on board.
'Travel now, pay later' schemes offered by smugglers seem to be increasing the risks to migrants and refugees, especially in parts of Africa. One of the dangers is being kidnapped for ransom, a business that thrives in lawless regions and traps migrants with no way out.
A migrant boat off the Libyan coast was in distress with 150 people on board, activists said on Monday. They were eventually intercepted by a merchant ship and returned to Libya. The aid organization Alarm Phone has deemed the return as "commercial refoulement."
Canada has announced it will take in 750 vulnerable refugees who were kept under slave-like conditions in Libya. 150 persons have been resettled so far, another 600 will follow over the next two years. Canada is also looking to accept refugees from Niger.
Gabriella Bottani, a nun and the international coordinator of the anti-smuggling network Talitha Kum, has denounced ''extremely serious human rights violations in Libya, including torture, work exploitation, sexual abuse and murder.''
More than 16,000 migrants were returned home from Libya in 2018 under a voluntary return program run by the UN's migration agency, the IOM. Many of them had tried - and failed - to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
Europe’s governments are breathing a sigh of relief as the number of refugees arriving from Africa falls. But at what price?
The civilian rescue vessel Sea Watch 3, which was detained in Italy on Friday, is the latest of such boats to stop operations in the central Mediterranean. Now, only the Libyan Coast Guard is able to save migrants risking their lives at sea in an attempt to reach Europe from North Africa.
The 15 minors stuck on board the Sea-Watch 3 for almost two weeks spoke to ANSA about their journey and their future dreams in Europe. They had been refused entry to Italian ports after being rescued at sea in January. Their traumatic experiences continue to haunt them.
Dozens of NGOs have called on the EU to end the controversial policy, saying it undermines the bloc's values. Despite several attempts, EU leaders have made little progress on a bloc-wide solution to irregular migration.
The migrant death toll in the Mediterranean on the Libya-Europe route rose sharply in 2018, from one death per 38 arrivals in 2017 to one death per 14 arrivals last year, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in its report titled "Desperate Journeys."