A migrant boat off the Libyan coast with an estimated 150 people on board sent distress call, activists said on Monday. There has been no word on whether the migrants were saved, or if they were taken to Libya or not.
The Mediterranea Saving Humans group, which monitors migrants rescue efforts, wrote on Twitter that it heard about a distress signal from a boat near Al Khoms, Libya.
“Urgent! 150 lives at risk! Alarm Phone has collected a damaged boat call from Al Khoms (Libya). 50-60 women and 30 children on board. The engine is no longer running. No rescue in sight, the Italian and Maltese authorities were notified around noon,” reads the tweet.
Alarm Phone, an independent group that helps people crossing the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe, said they lost contact with the boat and cannot reach those on board anymore.
“Italian authorities once again rejected responsibility and informed the Libyan coastguards. We fear that the people are currently being abducted back to horrible detention camps in Libya,” the group said on Twitter.
Flavio Di Giacomo, the spokesperson for the Coordination Office for the Mediterranean of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), also expressed his concerns. “Very concerned about this situation. No one is aware of any ongoing rescue operations at the moment. These people are in grave danger and they must be saved.”
In January, Human Rights Watch released a 70-page report stating that migrants in Libyan detention centers have no access to decent food, healthcare, or sanitation, and are routinely beaten by guards. If that is not the case, they may be sold into slavery.
