Libyan navy rescues 200 migrants off coast

The Libyan navy rescued 200 illegal immigrants off western Libyan shores on Saturday, said a navy official.

"A patrol of the Libyan navy rescued 200 illegal immigrants on a rubber boat that crashed into the Libyan territorial waters," Mahmoud Shabrak, documentation officer of the Libyan navy, told Xinhua.

The rescued migrants include women who are of African nationalities, Shabrak said.

Immigrants who have been rescued by the Libyan navy are detained in receptions centers with poor living conditions.

Libya is a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean towards European shores, due to the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011. However, many of the immigrants drowned in the half-way.

The Libyan navy announced on Oct. 21 that a total of 8,997 illegal immigrants had been rescued off Libyan coast in the first half of 2017.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)