The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that more than 700 migrants have been returned to Libya in recent days.
A spokesperson for the UNHCR Italy branch indicated that among the migrants are very young children and people who need help.
The spokesperson added that these migrants would end up in arbitrary detention indefinitely, noting that they would risk further violations by human traffickers and that Libya is not a safe haven.
UNHCR had expressed in a statement its concern about the safety of migrants and refugees returning to Libya, after the significant increase in the number of those returned by the coast guard at the end of last week.
The statement added that their teams responded to four disembarking operations of migrants in the west of the country, and provided aid to 696 survivors, including 79 women and 36 children, bringing the total number of migrants returning to Libya until the date of the statement this year to nearly 7,000 people.
In addition, UNHCR said that more than 500 people have tragically drowned or gone missing while trying to make the voyage to Europe, including more than 130 people in one shipwreck last week.
