More than 160 people have drowned in two shipwrecks off Libya over the past week, a United Nations official has said. Another boat carrying at least 210 migrants was intercepted and returned to Libya, she added. Around 31,500 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya in 2021, compared with nearly 11,900 the previous year, according to the IOM. The abuse often accompanies efforts to extort money from families before migrants are allowed to leave Libya on traffickers' boats. UN-commissioned investigators said in October that abuse and ill treatment of migrants in Libya could amount to crimes against humanity.

Source: Libya Today December 21, 2021 20:57 UTC