In Tripoli, a group of migrants who were being held in the Zintan detention center have been relocated to a UN facility awaiting evacuation from Libya. There are still concerns for more than 5,000 detainees suffering ‘dire’ conditions.
The Libyan coast guard recovered the bodies of a woman and a child and rescued 73 people after a migrant boat sunk off the coast of Libya on Sunday. Up to 25 migrants remain missing.
The Italian interior ministry is expected to push forward with a decree that would fine charities that attempt to bring migrants to the country's ports. The UN has called the decree a "political attempt to criminalize search and rescue operations."
The Libyan Coast Guard has stopped three boats carrying 113 migrants trying to reach Italy in the past two days. The migrants have been taken to detention centers in towns west of Tripoli, according to UN migration officials.
While many lives have been saved, the EU is dropping a major part of its anti-smuggling operation Sophia, which helped save refugees stranded at sea.
The Italian government has confirmed the ''full legitimacy of Libyan rescue operations'' in the Mediterranean Sea in light of the opinion expressed by the European Commission that ''Libya can and must rescue immigrants at sea'' and can therefore be considered a safe port.
Human rights groups have warned that migrants and refugees that are sent back to Libya are tortured and held for ransom. A TV report now brings horrific new evidence to support the claim.
An analysis by the Italian secret services contained in a parliamentary report on migration flows shows that the drop in migrant arrivals on Italian coasts is due to the ''strengthened capacity of the Coast Guard'' in Libya and the ''sharp reduction in NGO ships'' in the Mediterranean.
The French defense ministry has announced that it will be giving six equipped boats to the Libyan coast guard. The ships are supposed to assist Libya's efforts to curb clandestine migration, the ministry said.
The Sea Watch 3, a non-profit search and rescue ship, remains in Catania port in Sicily after Dutch authorities decided last week that it needed maintenance. The ship had been allowed to enter port only after being stranded at sea for ten days with 47 migrants on board. InfoMigrants spoke to Kim Heaton-Heather, who was responsible for the search-and-rescue operations on the ship's last two missions. He thinks the move to keep the Sea Watch 3 docked in Sicily is a reflection of a growing anti-immigrant feeling in Europe.
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."
The Libyan prime minister has called on those concerned about the country's migrant camps to help by taking in, or taking back, migrants. This follows comments from Austria's president that refugees should not be sent back to Libya, where tens of thousands of people are detained in terrible conditions.