Libya’s navy intercepts about 150 Europe-bound migrants

CAIRO – Libya’s coast guard says it has intercepted around 150 Europe-bound migrants off the country’s Mediterranean coast.

Spokesman Ayoub Gassim said Saturday the migrants had been returned to shore and would be taken to a detention centre in the capital, Tripoli.

Gassim said the three rubber boats with 148 Arab and African migrants were stopped off Libya’s western towns of Zuwara and Sabrata Friday, and included 15 women and 11 children.

Libya has emerged as a major transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe. In recent years, the EU has partnered with Libya’s coast guard and other local groups to stem the dangerous sea crossings.

Rights groups, however, say those policies leave migrants at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centres rife with abuses.