Libyan coastal services have rescued 38 migrants after intercepting a boat in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Sirte, before transferring them to the appropriate authorities.
The boat was intecepted approximately 120 nautical miles north of Sirte, according to officials from the General Administration of Coastal Security.
The rescued individuals were taken to the port of Sirte, where they received initial humanitarian assistance after disembarking.
The operation is part of the maritime surveillance missions conducted by Libyan authorities along the main migration routes in the central Mediterranean.
According to the deputy director of the General Administration of Coastal Security, Abdelhafiz Al-Qadhafi, the group included two Egyptian nationals who were piloting the boat. The other passengers consisted of 24 Bangladeshi nationals and 12 Pakistani nationals.
The authorities did not specify the boat’s point of departure or its final destination. The Libyan coast remains one of the main departure points for irregular crossings to Europe, particularly to Italy and Malta.
Following their rescue, the migrants were handed over to the Agency for Combating Illegal Immigration to complete the formalities required by law, Libyan authorities stated.
This latest interception illustrates the persistence of irregular migration flows in the central Mediterranean, despite the strengthening of maritime surveillance measures deployed by Libya and its international partners.
MK/AK/S/fss/as/APA