The trawler was packed. Nearly 650 migrants trying to reach European shores were intercepted by the coastguard off the city of Benghazi, the eastern Libyan navy headquarters announced on its Facebook page on Saturday.
“Navy special forces boats intercepted a trawler with nearly 650 illegal migrants on board,” he said in a statement. The boat was towed and taken to a special forces naval base in the port of Benghazi, according to the same source.
According to Navy Commander Ramzi Najem, quoted in the statement, “Navy special forces were alerted to the presence of illegal migrants on board a trawler northwest of Benghazi”, carrying several hundred people , including Bangladeshis, Syrians and Egyptians.
Migrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean at the risk of their lives fall prey to unscrupulous traffickers and, when intercepted, are brought back to the Libyan coast and placed in detention centers regularly denounced by NGOs for bad treatments.