Tripoli, October 12 (BNA) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that it has recovered the bodies of 15 migrants and 177 survivors from the two coast guard boats returning to Libya who sought to cross the Mediterranean.
Attempts to cross from North Africa have surged this year, with the Libyan coast guard reportedly having intercepted more than 23,000 migrants or refugees by September.
Migrants and refugees in Libya face arrest and abuse, and more than 5,000 have been arrested in a crackdown over the past week.
The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration said guards killed at least six migrants on Friday at a detention center where overcrowding led to chaos, and dozens managed to flee the area before they were arrested again.
The Libyan National Unity Government said that it was “dealing with a complex issue in the illegal immigration file, which represents a human tragedy in addition to its social, political and legal repercussions locally and internationally.”